WHEN CONTRASTS JOINED the CIRCUS: How Defying & Obeying Gravity Revitalized a Suffering Art Form Called 'Circus'

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WHEN CONTRASTS JOINED THE CIRCUS: How Defying & Obeying Gravity Revitalized a Suffering Art Form Called 'Circus'

– A Master Thesis by Christel Klan Stjernebjerg nh

g NoMAds: Nordic Master of Dance Studies November, 2017 MASTER OF ARTS, STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION...... 3 2. SUBJECT, STRUCTURE & METHODOLOGIES...... 5 2.1. Method: Seeking Eclectic 'Truths'...... 6 2.2. Circus & I: Together Apart...... 10 2.3. Circus & Society: Being Grounded While Flying High...... 11 3. HISTORIES BEHIND CIRCUS HISTORY...... 14 3.1. Choreographing Circus History: Diverse Unification...... 14 4. A 'PROPER' VOICE FOR MUTE CIRCUS BODIES...... 18 4.1. Exposing Gaps in Permanent Writings About Ephemeral Circus Bodies...... 18 4.2. Modes of Representation...... 21 4.2.1. Rhetorical Stylistics: Writing and Written Bodies...... 23 4.3. EWCP: Unfamiliar Families & 'Freakery'...... 24 4.3.1. Interpellations of EWCP: 'What a Circus!'...... 35 4.3.2. Potential Objections & Gaps...... 40 4.4. CWCP: Identification & Alienation...... 41 4.4.1. Interpellations of CWCP: 'Join the Circus!'...... 60 4.4.2. Potential Objections & Gaps...... 69 4.5. A Future Paradox...... 71 5. CONCLUSIONS...... 73 6. ABSTRACT...... 74 7. REFERENCES...... 75 7.1. Literature...... 75 7.2. DVDs & Websites...... 78

2 1. INTRODUCTION The circus phenomenon has become a subject of growing academic interest. It reflects the relatively recent attempts to apply scholarly thoughts to reasons and meanings behind circus performances and to come to grips with them as existing within the social and cultural histories of society. However, the field is consistently struggling with problems of infancy and of being disregarded as a widely known, well founded, and important part of academic studies. It is my overall claim that a lack of more adequate terminologies that convey and contextualize circus performances' stylistic developments is a part of this problem.1 The circus phenomenon has become a subject of growing personal interest as well. As a little girl, my parents took me to see a circus show in Copenhagen by the Danish family circus, Cirkus Benneweis. Families filled the seats surrounding the ring, a ringmaster verbally guided us through a show consisting of animals, clowns, and acrobatic acts performed by primarily family members wearing sequins and glitter. I sat and watched all this with great admiration, but I also remember thinking that this circus family appeared slightly odd; as if it belonged to another world. Eight years later I would once again go to see a circus show in Copenhagen, this time 'Quidam' by Cirque du Soleil. The ring had disappeared, adults mainly filled the seats, no words were spoken, animals were absent, and the layer of glitter was partially removed as a poetic story was told and unfolded through diverse acts, close interaction with the audience, live music, use of everyday-like props as well as advanced scenary and lighting. The artists had different types of skills and came from different parts of the world. I watched the execution of the superior acrobatic skills with the same kind of admiration as I did when I was a child, but this time the oddness was replaced with its opposite: A feeling of being invited into their world. A feeling of being captivated by their multisensory universe. A feeling of being touched by the artists since they communicated stories through their bodies. Had it not been for these occuring emotions, the thought of becoming a circus performer myself would have never entered my mind. But furthermore, I suggest that the emergence of such emotions stands as one of the core stylistic features of contemporary Western circus performances and is one of the main reasons for their overall success.2 This Master thesis centres around the hypothesis that circus performances became revitalized mainly due to the introduction of a significant stylistic feature: Identification. The feeling of a

1 Circus scholars such as Hugues Hotier, Paul Bouissac, and the circus company Hors les Murs have made attempts to define the genre's stylistic ontology by listing doctrines. However, I find that these lead to outdated and inadequate suggestions; as histories unfold, there are so many variations of circus performances that it appears to be a more accessible task to look for traits and tendencies through academic terms. 2 Ie. Cirque du Soleil is currently one of the largest theatrical producers in the world and their shows have been seen by more than 180 million spectators (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWu9VmZ3SIo).

3 spectator's close emotional association with the action/ the story taking place onstage. This feature stands in complete opposition to the acrobatic skills exposed, and, through this implementation, I therefore claim an exposition of contrasts to occur onstage: The foreign and mysterious combined with the familiar and 'real'. The exposition of superior and seemingly unobtainable physical abilites combined with the exposition of human fragility, flawedness and inferiority. The spectators' passive observance in awe of an artist flying high and far away combined with spectators' active engagement with an artist staring them closely into the eyes on the ground. The imaginative combined with relatable everyday-like images. Establishing a common ground while simultaneously distorting this ground. When taking an overall look at contrasts – creating coherence between antitheses – I argue that this approach benefits all aspects and layers of my Master thesis; including my scientifical approaches. Therefore, the title, various chapter titles and parts of content have an oxymoron embedded: A figure of speech that juxtaposes elements appearing to be contradictory; a comprised paradox. Instead of contradicting one another, I argue - on the contrary, ironically - that the elements can compliment, enrich, and benefit from each other. Just as I suggest bodily oxymorons of contemporary performances to enrich and benefit the circus phenomenon.

4 2. SUBJECT, STRUCTURE & METHODOLOGIES Initially I would like to explicate my awareness of the fact that this Master thesis is a creative activity. It consists of a subjective selection of literature within the fields of the humanities, dance, circus, and rhetorical studies that I consider to have relevance for my focus and purposes. These texts are taken out of different contexts and thus, I have attempted to construct my version of coherence between them. My eclectic gathering of narratives. In doing so, I am hoping to create insightful, contrasting, and cumulative links between the fields on both micro and macro levels. My Master thesis is choreographed around the following research questions: • What are common stylistic traits and tendencies of early Western circus performances (EWCP) and contemporary Western circus performances (CWCP)?3 How can these stylistic changes be articulated and described more adequately? • How can diverse methodologies be implemented in my research of these matters? How can I combine my embodied experiences with more general meanings behind the developing styles of circus performances in a way that I consider cumulative for the research field of circus studies? On a more extrinsic and abstract level, the reasons for my choices of eclectic content are 1) to advocate for the advantages of juxtaposing and diverse academic approaches within circus studies, and 2) since the circus archives lack analytical and detailed articulations of my research questions, I argue that applications of more developed academic tools from other fields can be a benefitial way of providing my Master thesis with theoretization. On a more intrinsic and concrete level, the reasons are 1) being an acrobat and a dancer myself, I have a passionate interest in both fields of movement and their academic developments, and 2) the implementation of rhetorical theory can be seen in relation to my Bachelor's Degree in rhetorics. Thus, although it is my ambition to convey relevant patterns and links that have value from a more general perspective, I cannot escape what Alan Munslow calls ”narrative impositionalism”:4 The fact that the content has roots in personal interests and interpretations. Therefore, subjectivity will – consciously or not – affect the content.

3 I have chosen the terms EWCP and CWCP since I argue that these offer more appropriate framings of the shift. 1) Many scholars use the overall labels 'circus' or 'the circus'. These indicate a totalization of the genre which I find deeply problematic when entering more detailed research. 2) I have added 'performances' since this word puts focus on the aesthetic executions onstage; furthermore, the choice of the word in plural leaves room for diversity, gaps, and possible objections. 3) EWCP are often referred to as 'traditional circus' or 'conventional circus', but I argue that these are no longer adequate due to the development of new traditions and conventions. The same goes for the often used terms 'new circus'/' cirque nouveau' for CWCP; I no longer regard this genre as new. 4) I have added 'Western' since circus studies have been dominating mostly in these parts of the world, and since I do not wish to apply nor force presuppositions and generalizations onto the whole world: I argue that the Western world shares certain world views and tacit semantic codes about circus performances in general. 4 Munslow, Alan: Deconstructing History, 1997, p. 63.

5 Throughout this Master thesis I will attempt to reason my choice of aspects, but at the same time I am fully aware that my selections can trigger objections about lack of details and more nuanced commenting concerning each separate theory, approach, or issue. My introductionary outlines are meant to be in accordance with the current, widespread conception of research as an epistemological, human endeavour; a production of knowledge and narratives closely related to author, language, and context. Bearing in mind the rough thoughts behind Thomas Kuhn's scientific paradigms, I claim that it is an undeniable fact that scholars are ideological products of the specific time they live in. That power structures set general conditions for knowledge for a certain period of time. Built upon a somewhat tacit consensus of certain shared scientific values and prioritizations. Dance and circus scholars could be said to move around within the same spheres of academic discourses: A shared passion for movement, embodiment, kinesthetics/ kinesthetic empathy, bodily knowledge, and all the struggles that follow with ways of providing these nonverbal dimensions permanent words; ways of unravelling obscure theoretization. Along with an increasing interest in these studies also comes a need for a similar increase in the worth, legitimization, and expansion of their very existence. I believe that if the research is not carefully thought-out, the field can suffer from a tendency to fall in a paradoxical trap: The passionate and well intended attempts will prevent rather than support a cumulative process (I claim cumulativity to be especially important here, given the small amounts of scholars compared to other academic disciplines). I argue that it is crucial to cover diverse aspects in order to analyze and conceive body movements; in order to respectfully use language to validate ephemerality. I therefore consider the choice of method and methodologies to be of great importance: The nature of data depends on the methods used, the choice of perspectives affects the whole research. But what constitutes 'proper' research? And is it hipocracy to seek an answer to such a complex question from a postmodern angle?

2.1. Method: Seeking Eclectic 'Truths'

I will briefly summarize the strengths and weaknesses of what I consider to be the most mentionable scientifical movements since I consider this to have great relevance for this Master thesis. The postmodern conceptualization of academic research initially arose as a reaction to the scientifical worlds of realism (the world is regarded as independent from human beings) which can be linked to an essentialist idea of believing in a true essence that constitutes a person/ a phenomenon and that remains irreducible and immutable. This perspective is roughly founded on a nomothetic and ontological search for a neutral, universal, and more well

6 defined hierarchy of truth that cannot be affected from the outside; this search can come in different shapes, such as positivism. An advantage of traditional approaches can be reductionism: A more simplified overview through thorough empiricism. However, seeking axiomatic conclusions can have a tendency of forcing causality and linearity to fit into framed boxes. This can cause gaps and disregards of reflexivity, relativism, and everchanging developments. Postmodernists claim that traditional scholars' wide use of truthseeking possesses the risk of creating a hierarchy that leaves no space for irregularity and incoherency. Beliefs in essences, objectivity, and empiricism were challenged by different movements of antirealism (the world is regarded as dependent on human beings) throughout the 20th century; among others constructivism, hermeneutics, and phenomenology.5 Along with the pioneering thoughts of Immanuel Kant, Michel Foucault etc. came an increasing interest in revealing the inconstancy of truth through patterns of thought and behaviour. Scientific theories were regarded as a result of human activities: Instead of reflecting 'reality', they function as cognitive products of subjective interests defining their shape. The problema- tization of an acclaimed neutral connection between a phenomenon and a literary expression, between form and content, had a major effect on the humanities. Following the linguistic turn, the access to knowledge was now claimed to go through language. Writings are narratives based on other narratives. By stating that the world is a mess, incapable of being systematized, scholars were opposing to the idea of memetics and linearity. Despite gaining great dominance in the fields of the humanities, these perspectives of diversification are not entirely unproblematic. Firstly, they mess with overall simplicity and unity; to an extend where authors risk being accused of chaotic or cynical states of deconstruction and dematerialization. A radical relativism that potentially insults the efforts of past 'truth-seeking' researchers. If everything is put into discourse, it could potentially mean that everything can be dissolved as a dramatic consequence. A postmodernist would argue that, instead of diminishing, scholarly writings become enriched, and, ironically, a bit closer to our 'realities'. Furthermore, we cannot force something to fit neatly into a system - we cannot force coherency and causality by trying to tie otherwise disparate events together – and if we do so, the author's awareness of this should be articulated; initiating critical independent thinking and taking ownership of one's intellectual activities. I endorse these aspects, but I also endorse the critique that a heavy focus on inductive reasoning, through ie. idiographical research, can have a tendency of containing so much embodied subjectivity that in worst cases traits of solipsism

5 I declare my awareness of how essentialism and constructivism could be seen as the most rabid forms of respectively realism and antirealism. This is done to clarify opposing approaches from where a range of multiple scientific approaches and methodologies can be found in between.

7 are shown. This can cause difficulties with decoding more general, useful knowledge. Due to dance and circus studies being fairly new disciplines, many scholars pursue their work through postmodern approaches. June Layson articulates how some dance scholars' ”radical questioning has remained at the ideological stage and has yet to produce either alternative working models or outcomes”.6 A critique that could be similarly addressed to circus scholars. However, in my view, none of the above has the answer; scientifical interdisciplinarity does. Constructivism needs essences and essentialism needs constructions. Deductive results can be idiographical and social constructions can be nomothetic. With my choices of language throughout this Master Thesis I wish to reflect acknowledgements of these oxymorons: Subjectivity and non-totalization through 'open' verbs, 'vague' prepositions, and nouns in plural meanwhile attempting to construct and convey coherent, possible 'truths' that allow more generalizing statements. Distinguishing between scepticism and cynicism towards past writings.7 Dance anthropologist Drid Williams states that dance research should be ”based on complementary opposition” that ”is capable of drawing out theoretical and taxonomic contrasts and similarities from a higher level of organization.”8 Thus, I am seeking a research model that allows multiple answers and embraces oppositions. Where investigations of stylistic features are allowed not only through either personal experiences nor empirical research; where theoretical bridges are built and dichotomizations are avoided. A model ”that can emphasize the notion of individual agency but still give equal opportunity to multiple historical narratives”,9 as Lena Hammergren articulates. This is not an easy task; many considerations are to be done: To intellectualise, contextualise, and intertextualise narratives, to define appropriate academic topics, and to acknowledge subjectivity as well as the creating forces of language. Paula Saukko's research model appear to provide me with answers in this potentially hipocritical matter. Her pragmatic and consensus theoretical approach combines three (seemingly opposing) methodologies - hermeneutics, (post)structuralism, and realism - in order to find ”some common ground to determine what constitutes 'good' or 'valid' research”.10 Her theory is structured around a search for several, possible 'truths' and ”a threedimensional

6 Adshead-Lansdale, Janet; Layson, June: Dance History: An Introduction, 1994, p. 13. June Layson's own research has been equally criticized by some postmodern scholars; her works could be said to stand as somewhat traditional representations of a more simplified, narrow, and truth-seeking conception. 7 The distinction between scepticism and cynicism is mentioned by ie. Alan Munslow and Alexandra Carter; the latter states that deconstructionist narratives can ”unravel the nature of historical knowledge until we can't see what's left” and ”doubt the integrity of all sources” (Carter, Alexandra: “Destabilising the Discipline: Critical Debates about History and Their Impact on the Study of Dance” in Rethinking Dance History, 2004, p.17). 8 Williams, Drid: Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures, 2004, p. 2. 9 Hammergren, Lena: ”Many Sources, Many Voices” in Rethinking Dance History: A Reader, 2004, p. 27. 10 Saukko, Paula: Doing Research in Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Classical and New Methodological Approaches, 2003, p. 15.

8 interest in lived experiences, discourses or texts and the social context” (p. 67): 1) Understan- ding lived experience demands a hermeneutical/ phenomenological approach that suits the purpose of understanding lived realities, 2) the interest in discourses is linked to a (post)structuralist analysis of tropes and patterns that shape an understanding of our social, cultural, and research environment, and 3) analyzing the social context is linked to a sort of 'realism', seeking to convey how the society and its structures operate. The latter aims to describe the world 'as it is', meaning its essentialism stands in opposition to the model's other methodologies. She similarly writes about the strengths and weaknesses related to each isolated approach; about the rejection of a search for 'truths', she articulates the potential deconstruction of a solid hierarchical foundation on which research stands: ”If we take the principle of understanding different realities and listening to multiple voices to its logical extreme, we end up embracing the relativist idea that any perspective is as good as any other” (p. 67). I will be using these methodologies by interweaving 1) knowledge through my rhetorical education and my lived experiences with circus performances (hermeneutics/ phenomenology), 2) selected scholars' literature linked to circus performances as well as analyses of selected performances' tropes and patterns ((post)structuralism), and 3) historical contextualisations and comparative studies between EWCP and CWCP ('realism'). The methodologies will overlap each other, not be purely separated (the hermeneutical and phenomenological approaches will obviously, in one way or another, influence every word written since these are all results of my choices). Firstly, by discussing selected issues, I will be zooming out and focusing on overall aspects of the circus phenomenon. Secondly, by analyzing/ comparing selected texts/ circus performances and implementing my own experiences - moving up on the taxonomical ladder - I will be zooming in and applying these issues concretely to circus artefacts; supplemented with interdisciplinary theory. Lastly, I will once again zoom out and tie the different parts together. Thus, my conclusions will be reached through my construction of coherence between subjective descriptions and 'realism'. Throughout my Master thesis I will expose possible objections and examples of researchers that have conveyed knowledge that do not fit neatly into my synthesis since it is not my aim to produce totalizing statements, rather, it is to look for more nuanced traits and tendencies. Through this model I strive towards 'good' and 'valid' research of my hypothesis. Although this model demands a wide and complex view full of contradictions, I believe that a common ground can be established where subjectivity and objectivity, text and body, passivity and activity, histories and rewritings can go hand in hand instead of pushing each other away.

9 2.2. Circus & I: Together Apart Having been a gymnast on a hobby level since I was four years old, a professional acrobat and artistic creator for fifteen years, and an artist in Cirque du Soleil - where I performed 987 shows and thereby outlived an intense embodied experience with a contemporary circus company - the interest in this topic appears obvious. Furthermore, I see my experiences as somewhat well reasoned inductive representations of more overall characteristic developments of CWCP which I shall attempt to explicate throughout my Master thesis.

I had never dreamed of becoming a professional circus artist since it did not appear to be an attractive, easy-accessible, nor widespread profession. However, seven years after my first encounter with CWCP as a spectator, I found myself signing a three year contract as an acrobat for the very same company, Cirque du Soleil. This time a show entitled 'LOVE', taking place at Hotel Mirage in Las Vegas. 'LOVE' is a coorporation between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil and the show is still running to this date.11 The cast consisted of artists with many types of skills from many different countries; among these were for instance a 76-year-old actress from Brazil (Silvia Aderne), two gumboot performers from the ghettos of South Africa (Michael Tumelo and S'fiso Mavuso), a 52-year-old Russian actor (Eugene Brim), an aerialist from Belarus (Alevtyna Titarenko), as well as urban/ contemporary dancers and floor/ aerial acrobats from Europe, Africa, Asia, North, Central, and South America. I spent three years in this multiethnical 'melting pot cast'; a process that entailed copings with both cultural and aesthetic diversity: From figuring out how to celebrate Christmas together with so many different traditions involved to figuring out a choreographic structure onstage that allowed/ represented all the different skills and styles.

Having gained intense knowledge by being situated within this universe in many different ways, I share a great amount of passion for this type of circus and I acknowledge the fact that this experience has been affecting certain views of this paper, including the choice of focus on Cirque du Soleil.12 Furthermore, having experienced conflicting emotions about circus artistry and everyday life through my different meetings with different companies – going through periods of both high and low self-esteem as well as both high and low thoughts about general aspects of circus performances – caused me to develop a diverse artistic style myself that combines contrasts which therefore also affects my synthesis. 11 I was an employee from 2005 to 2008, including seven months of show creation in Montreal, where Cirque du Soleil has its headquarters. The representatives of The Beatles collaboration were Sir George Martin, his son Giles Martin, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison; providing the legal rights of using the Beatles' music for the first time ever in a theatre production. 12 Ie. various European and Québecois contemporary circus companies do not have an altogether positive attitude towards the commercialized Cirque du Soleil. The many contrasting aspects of this company I shall return to.

10 This can obviously both complicate and benefit the research process: Since I argue that a certain level of general usefulness must enter a research, it becomes more difficult to achieve this when being personally this much engaged into the topic: My choices have to be made with an awareness of not solely forcing my own views and aims by selecting material that fits these. But since I am also arguing that the researcher must acknowledge subjectivity and can benefit from lived experiences, I will make an attempt to implement these in a way that I find relevant and avoids a navel-gazing exercise of repeated self-reflection. In other words, I will try to look at circus performances through objective subjectivity, together apart: From the inside as well as the outside. With the help of Paula Saukko.

2.3. Circus & Society: Being Grounded While Flying High ”The diversity of this popular performance form makes it one of the most exciting and fascinating areas of cultural activity to explore and to analyse for its contribution to society”.13 I endorse this introductionary statement by Peta Tait and Katie Lavers in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader (an anthology which I consider to be one of the most 'valid' recent contributions to postmodern studies about circus performances, containing pluralistic perspectives on circus performances related to science, society, and other art forms). Circus performances are filled with interesting aspects to contextualize. Lisa Burns points out how the ”very little scientific attention” that the field is suffering from could be argued to not add up to the ”privileged status in our society.”14 Although it does provide the field with the similar potential of adapting quickly to new circumstances and change of scientifical paradigms, as June Layson stresses about dance studies.15 But the scholarly attention on the field is continously growing and there is certainly an increasing production of interesting circus literature to engage in from an academic perspective. With the risk of stating contextualising hyperboles, it strikes me how this increasing interest as well as the significant developments of both dance and circus performance styles can be seen in relation to scientifical movements following the linguistic turn: Throughout the mid/ late 20th century, major stylistic changes were seen in both the fields of dance and circus. I postulate that it is most likely not a coincidence that new and diverse styles within both fields arose and expanded roughly within the same time frame as the scientifical fields. To take circus

13 Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: ”Introduction: Circus Perspectives, Precedents and Presents” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 1. 14 Burns, Lisa: Through the 'Front Door' to the 'Backyard': Linguistic Variation of the American Circus, 2003, p. 1. 15 According to her, dance history has the ability to ”unlike the longer-established general history discipline, respond, adapt to and even embrace radical modes of thought in an immediate manner” (Layson, 1994, p. 11.)

11 performances as an example, Robert Sugarman states: ”Out of the ferment of the counterculture in the 1970's new circuses appeared” that brought a ”human scale to performance.”16 This 'human scale' could be argued to resemble similar traits of postmodernism in both circus and dance: An overall emphasis on human beings' influence on arts, techniques, styles, and content. A focus on the body's phenomenological articulations, individualism, creativity, diversity, social commentary, narrativity, and semiotics. It could be argued that animals, glitter, and 'freaks' were removed from circus performances, and that ballet shoes, pointed toes, stiff skirts, and defiance of gravity became replaced with bare feet, bare skin, and grounded movements in contemporary dance performances to place a more humanized aspect at the centre of performance. To dig into the seven layers of skin and all the way through to the bones of the human being moving on the floor. It could also be argued that hierarchical segregation slowly diminished as diversity invaded the field; both artistically, aesthetically, and anthropologically. These tendencies could be seen as intertwining elements in a postmodern, global wave; all effecting one another continously. Linking the 'human scale' to society, I argue that contrasts occur constantly in our everyday Western lives: While a longing for 'authenticity', identification, and exposition of flaws are crucial parts of our current mentality, there is also a longing for superiority, facade, and idealization amongst us. The rapid expansion of social media use in general could stand as a reflection of this oxymoron: Being personal in public. Sharing 'immediate' moments from 'real' life that are simultaneously staged and manipulated with. Raising a question of whether these moments are 'fake' or 'true'. Photo filters, that cover up facial imperfections, are often added to our profile pictures on Facebook, meanwhile the hashtag campaign '#nofilter' stands as one of the most popular hashtags in the world.17 We somehow shift between these opposing modes on both conscious and unconscious levels. We praise humans that dare to expose traits of insecurity and inferiority that exist within us all; at the same time we focus on individuals and phenomenons that are 'out of this world' spectacular in both positive and negative ways. We take pride in expressing our innermost, fragile feelings and at the same time we maintain masks that cover up this fragility. Retouching and unretouching simultaneosly in order to make ourselves feel superior to others and at the same time create common ground with others. Shifting in and out of the ordinary. Standing out and fitting in. Feeling stereotypically unique.

16 Sugarman, Robert: The Many Worlds of Circus, 2007, p. 1. 17 ' #nofilter' means that an uploaded image is unretouched and thereby remains 'authentic'. This hashtag stands as the no. 31 most used in the world in 2016 (http://www.shortstack.com/118-most-popular-instagram-hashtags-2016-for-business-and-life/).

12 To take popular Western TV talent show concepts as an example, such as 'So You Think You Can Dance', 'Britain's Got Talent' etc. - which often include dancing and circus performing contestants - it has become a common feature to expose personal insights into a contestant's offstage life prior to the onstage performance. Often stories are conveyed that can include close social relations, childhood stories, self-esteem or disability related issues etc. that usually touch the recipients and remind them that we are all human. This is usually followed by a high quality artistic performance onstage. Leaving both the contestant, the judges, and the audience members captivated and emotional in the end. I argue that the popularity of these show concepts are based on the combination of storytelling and advanced skills being shown; on both the backstage person/ persona construction and the onstage performer. The appreciation of the performance would have not been as intense without the story prior to the performance. To use Erving Goffman's terms, the worlds of 'front stage' and 'back stage' behaviour 18 could be said to move closer to one another; creating oxymorons such as public privacy, produced 'authenticity', and inferior superiority. I argue that the simultaneous exhibitions of identification and admiration mainly cause these emotions and the success of these concepts.19 I suggest that such conditions in the Western world are similarly exposed as a crucial feature in many CWCP. I add 'many' since I do not expect this to function as a totalized statement; paradoxically, I am also suggesting that the diversification of CWCP do not allow all-encompassing generalizations. Peta Tait and Katie Lavers express how there is an 'inherent paradox' surrounding the circus phenomenon: ”As soon as one attempts to set boundaries that define or categorize the circus, it mutates, chafes at limitations and transforms itself.” 20 Although I must agree, it is my belief that it is crucial and possible to look for/ suggest trends and terminologies. I am hoping to reach somewhat a balance in my investigation of these features and whether they have played an important role in the revitalization of a suffering art form called 'circus'. With the help of Paula Saukko.

18 Https://www.thoughtco.com/goffmans-front-stage-and-back-stage-behavior-4087971. 19 Examples: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm4t1vE96Qw, https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=HCp3_jaYOZ4 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJCSfDtPaw. 20 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 2-3.

13 3. HISTORIES BEHIND CIRCUS HISTORY Linked to the Foucauldian thought of knowledge and history existing within culturally and socially determined power structures, Susan Foster's book Choreographing History (hence the following chapter title), consists of two words that semantically indicate an oxymoron: By choreographing history, the past is just like a dance; a human construction in eternal movement, not a static representation. The way that these movements are put together depends on the choreographer. However, 'essences' are sought in each historical endeavour; subjective rewritings of history which I call palimpsest.21 The circus researchers included are the ones whose historiographical approaches and inputs I find relevant to my choice of topic. I will be focusing on diachronic outlines and historical matters that I consider to be 'valid', somewhat consensus-based, and relevant in regards to Western circus performances' development.22

3.1. Choreographing Circus History: Diverse Unification The unified, complex term 'circus' is assumed to derive from the Greek word κίρκος (kirkos), meaning 'circle' or 'ring'.23 Since circus acts are now performed in all kinds of places and surroundings, the literal meaning of the word has proven to be inadequate. Peta Tait and Katie Lavers have, after putting many thoughts and multiple angles to the problems of defining the term, ended with the following suggestion as a working definition: ”An art form which explores the aesthetic potential of extreme physical action by bodies (animal, human and post- human) in defiance of cultural identity categories including species, and usually performing live with apparatus in big to small enterprises, often with costuming, music, or sound score, lighting, and technological effects uncluding filmed footage. Audiences have an expectation that circus offers extended muscular action and physical expertise with dynamism that exceeds social norms and is framed in ways that will surprise and excite, and circus is particularly focused on direct engagement with audiences. The skills needed to make circus are a unique blend of acrobatic and artistic and, in its immediacy, its liveness, the circus performer places

21 A Greek expression that means 'abraded again'; a parch handwriting where the original writing has been erased and replaced with new writing (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palimpsest). By distinguishing between my self-made terms 'EWCP' and 'CWCP', I have constructed palimpsests myself. 22 Overall measures of precaution include 1) the majority of books are written by circus enthusiasts and therefore subjective premises have been set, consciously or not, 2) the vast collection of American books often emphasize the importance of American circus entrepreneurship and patriotic achievements. An interesting example of two books standing in methodological opposition to one another is Circus: A World History (1976) versus The Many Worlds of Circus (2007). The title differences - singular versus plural - indicate the traditionalist way of creating one chronological, coherent truth versus the postmodern aims of not forcing coherency nor causality between the different chapters. The contents of these two books are obvious results of the above mentioned strengths and weaknesses, and I have therefore seeked a compromise between them. 23 Http://clownopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Circus.

14 herself/ himself at risk, whether perceived or actual.”24 I find this extremely long suggestion to clearly indicate problems and complexities concerning the 'circus' term when no additional labels are attached to it.

Based on historical records, 'circus'-type performances have occurred since ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Acrobats, contortionists, and clowns go all the way back to 2,500 B.C. (although there is no consensus about whether these displays and whether Roman Circus' circulatores - strolling jugglers/ mountebanks - were technically within the category). The before mentioned κίρκος is first attested in the 14th century. If not the primary, then the 'official' father of EWCP is considered to be ex-cavalryman Philip Astley who in 1768 introduced his horse show in a circular stage in London. This sort of aristocratic art form became accessible to laymen through productions at public marketplaces. As time passed, jugglers, acrobats, mimes, and clowns were included; Philip Astley's originality consisted in gathering these already existing art forms and transforming them into a more democratic, commercial art form. The circus phenomenon expanded during the 18th and 19th century and became an international art form throughout Europe and North America. At that time 'circus' was considered to be almost exclusively demonstrations of acrobatic skills. During the years arose a need for gaining independence from permanent buildings and the tent concept emerged; the nomadic identity through touring EWCP was established. This also meant that shows no longer required constants renewals since there was no need for attracting audiences to a specific area through longer periods of time.

The touring EWCP slowly developed into family professions; self-sufficient dynasties passed on the tradition from one generation to another, and they still do. Thus, it became a way of life: People married into travelling circus families, babies were born into it, and not only the show - but the whole organization - consisted of family members. For instance, the Clarke dynasty stretches back to the beginning where horseman John Clarke began to work for Philip Astley. Other legendary dynasties include families such as The Flying Nelsons (England), The Flying Wallendas and The Konyots (Hungary), The Hodginis (the family genealogy remains untraceable, but it is estimated that they have been performing for 350 years in Europe and North America), The Stoinevs (Mexico/Bulgaria), The Tognis, and The Zoppés (Italian).25

The seats in today's family EWCP are primarily filled with families and children, but that appears not to be the case prior to the 1880s: The audience included a broad range of people despite age, sex, and social status. EWCP arose accordingly with the breakthrough for 24 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 6. 25 Http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/circus-arts/10-amazing-circus-families.htm#page=11.

15 the entertainment industry which came as a result of the industrial breakthrough in the mid 18th century. EWCP gained popularity within the 19th century and became one of the preferred types of Western entertainment. Performances developed significantly through the next fifty years. Acts from different families began to be bought and implemented into bigger shows by American entrepreneurs such as The Cole Brothers, The Ringling Brothers, William Cameron Coup, Phineas Taylor Barnum etc. The latter was one of the main developers in revolutionizing American EWCP: From the 1840s and onwards, he introduced 'Menagerie & Circus', a travelling combination of acts performed by various families, animals, and human oddities that would turn out to increase the amount of children in the audiences. Later he shaped circus performances into three-ringed spectacles, implementing 'freakshows'/ sideshows well into the 20th century; something that became central magnets of his show places. The format, whereby a ringmaster introduces a varied selection of acts - mostly performed to traditional music - developed in the latter part of the 19th century and continued almost universally to be a main style of EWCP all the way up until the 1970s.

After World War II, their popularity declined as new forms of entertainment arrived: Theatres, vaudevilles, amusement parks, and movie theatres/ television increasingly threatened EWCP. From the 1960s, EWCP also attracted growing criticism from animal rights activists. Many companies went out of business or were forced to merge with others. It was concluded on Fifth International Circus Congress in 1972 that EWCP' ”lack of sophistication is supposed to be responsible for its alleged decline, at a time when the world is progressing toward higher aesthetic values”.26 Nonetheless, travelling EWCP are still active in various parts of the world, ranging from small family enterprises to three-ring extravaganzas. But the majority of them are stagnated, struggling with financial problems. To take Denmark as an example, families such as Cirkus Dannebrog and Benneweis have been touring with their shows respectively since 1880 and 1887, with the addition of the more recent Cirkus Arena. In 2014, Danish media wrote that close to all family circuses in Denmark are on their way to bankruptcy and the owner of Circus Arena, Benny Berdino, declared the following if the government do not grant them fundings: ”Ellers vil der måske ikke være noget, der hedder cirkus i Danmark om fem år”.27 Similarly, documentaries such as 'Circus Rosaire' and 'Sawdust – Life in the Ring' tell the stories of American and Italian circus families that are struggling to survive.28 They have become EWCP mostly in ruins and with Kenneth Little's words ”cost-cutting mud shows in

26 Bouissac, Paul: Circus and Culture, 1986, p. 3. 27 Http://politiken.dk/kultur/scene/ECE2242630/danske-cirkus-er-paa-vej-mod-konkurs/. 28 About the Zoppés family and the 9th generation of the family Rosaire that have been touring with shows since 1842.

16 poor shape, working on shoestring budgets, often hiring inferior acts and itinerant workers they can only just afford”.29

The rising of CWCP is a result of various influences. Contemporary styles originated from performing arts movements in the 1970s, ie. in Canada, France, USA, and the United Kingdom. In 1974, Alexis Gruss recreated Philip Astley's Parisian circus from the 1770s and that same year, an alternative circus school opened in Paris. There was a desire of young, reactionary European mountebanks to change the reigning signatures of EWCP, to (re)create a more 'authentic' and diverse art form and to reach out to a new audience segment: Young people and adults. This change was supposedly not to be seen as a rejection of EWCP, in fact, it originally contained a desire to return to ancient itinerant street performances and saltimbanco.30 Instead, it could be seen as a critique of ”a theatrical scene judged to be ossified”31 to use Martin Maleval's words.

In 1985, CNAC (the National Centre for the Circus Arts) was established. Schools started to gain greater participation as it was no longer a requirement that one was born into a circus family in order to become an acrobat. The former training and education through companies of EWCP created a more preservative form while companies of CWCP had/ have their foundation on alternative and diverse starting positions: A gathering of artists from different countries with different abilities. In Denmark, the newly established school AMOC (Akademiet for Moderne Cirkus) had their very first 12 graduates in 2017, among these are only few Danes.32 Early examples of pioneering contemporary companies include Cirque Plume, Cirque Archaos, and Cirque Baroque (France), Cirque du Soleil (Quebec), and Nofit State Circus (Wales); more recent examples are Teatro ZinZanni (Seattle), Cirque Éloize and Les 7 Doigts de la Main (Quebec), PURE Cirkus & Skewed Circus (UK), and Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden). Companies that have all achieved success worldwide. Thus, the Western circus phenomenon was revitalized and aspired to reach a new level of social and artistic acceptability.

29 Little, Kenneth: ”The Circus in Ruins: A Comment on ”Lion on Display: Culture, Nature, and Totality in Circus Performance” by Yoram Carmeli” in Poetics Today, 2006, p. 598. 30 A street acrobat. English has lost the word 'saltimbank' from current usage, but it is still used in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian as saltimbanco, in French as saltimbanque; meaning 'one that jumps upon a bench' (https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/saltimbanco). 31 Maleval, Martine: ”An Epic of New Circus” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 52. 32 Http://www.afukamoc.dk/eleverne/.

17 4. A 'PROPER' VOICE FOR MUTE CIRCUS BODIES 4.1. Exposing Gaps in Permanent Writings About Ephemeral Circus Bodies

”The visual representations of aspects of life are seen through a circus performance”.33 As simple as this sentence by Lisa Burns sounds, it is filled with complexity. My claim that a main reason for CWCP' increase in popularity – and equally EWCP' decrease - being the visual representations of contrasts through identification/ familiarity versus superiority/ unfamiliarity, activates a difficult task of proving through academic language. Conveying metaphorical images of relationships between artist's 'real' self and artist's ideal self as well as between artist and spectator. Conveying the presentation of new body images that - each in their way, tying together body and self as well as body and society - contribute to/ are a result of new tendencies and ways of thinking. With these hypotheses in mind, central questions occur: How can morphologic and semantic plot constituents - visual metaphors through signs and symbols - be 'properly' linked to Western circus performances, and what is lacking, in my opinion, from interesting works done by other scholars so far? This chapter is concerned with the depiction and discussion of academic researchers who have touched base with stylistic representations in circus performances as acts of communication. Through an eclectic gathering of literary 'snapshots', I will try to expose the postmodern development that has grown to exist within the post-linguistic turn research field; explicating juxtapositions and similarities, strengths and weaknesses. By doing that I intend to 1) credit selected scholars' pioneering work in an aim for research cumulativity (although the number is continously growing, the amount of scholars is still small compared to other academic disciplines, and I therefore find it important to build on their works), and 2) take a critical stance towards parts of their work in my presentation of a research gap concerning lacks of more adequate terminologies surrounding stylistic developments of circus performances. Despite disagreements, there tends to be an overall consensus that 'circus' is filled with contrasts, acts of communication and modes of representation. Scholars such as Brenda Assael, Helen Stoddart, and Lotte Hansen mention how 'circus' offers a vantage point for the study of antitheses and "contradictory and corresponding impulses” in terms of ”order versus disorder, transgression versus respectability, foreign versus familiar”, ”the concepts of 'illusion' and 'reality'” as well as ”softness and strength, closeness and distance.”34

33 Burns, 2003, p. 1. 34 Assael, Brenda: The Circus and Victorian Society, 2005, p. 13; Stoddart, Helen: ”Aesthetics” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 16; Hansen, Lotte: ”Legende kroppes bevægelseskunst” in Bevægelsens poetik – om den æstetiske dimension i bevægelse, 1998, p.181.

18 Some of the earliest academic studies of circus performances as powerful language were done by one the most esteemed theorists, semiotician Paul Bouissac. Inspired by linguists Roman Jakobsen and Ferdinand de Saussure, he explores acts as narrativity and how they are understood through signs and symbols in an attempt to provide benefitial tools when using language to validate actions of the past (as Susan Foster would say). As he states about the problem of ephemerality: ”Logicians, linguists, and semioticians have debated for decades how to define an action because the phenomenology of real life does not provide clear-cut boundaries between actions and between action, reaction, motivation, intention, competence, planning, implementation, context, and consequences.”35 Traits of postmodernism are apparent both in his eclectic way of combining methodologies (ethnology, folklore, literature, semiotics, and linguistics), in his declared subjective point of departure (ie. from 1964 to 1966 he ran an experimental circus himself), in the avoidance of historical diachrony and lastly, in his cautiousness about the deductive values of his discoveries. Through his anticipation of acts as narrative structures of articulation, syntax, and semantics, through an analysis of the progressive stages – such as the relationship between the addresser and the addressee, the element of danger, codes/ subcodes etc. - he creates insights into the cultural relevance of 'the circus' and could be said to contribute with attempts of ”consistent and detailed terminology and thesauri that characterize the more established academic disciplines” to use June Layson's words.36 Furthermore, he breaks a tendency of past scholars' focus on practical circumstances such as architecture and social organization. However, both a constructivist and an essentialist could oppose to the theories and content of his earlier work. Although he states that this is not ”to cover the entire phenomenon of the circus,” he continously takes use of the term 'the circus' in definite article and claims that his research is an attempt ”to outline possible approaches for a general theory of the circus as a specific language.”37 As if 'the circus' can stand as a permanent totalization. I would argue that there are paradoxes attached to his aims: Suggesting generalized theories while simultaneously wishing to avoid nomothetic conclusions. He touches base with this Master thesis' hypotheses when implementing Algirda Greimas' theories about narratives' contradictions: ”Signification is grounded on systems of opposition” and meaning only occurs through ”relations to contray and contradictory terms.”38 He also articulates how stylistics can be closer or further from 'real life': ”All actions performed are obviously possible. But their staging can make their goal appear more or less within the reach of a normal human being” (p. 40). However, these multimodal perspectives are rooted in a sole focus on danger and stirred action.

35 Bouissac, Paul: ”The Staging of Actions: Heroes, Antiheroes and Animal Actors” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 37. 36 Layson, 1994, p. 15. 37 Bouissac, Paul: Circus & Culture: A Semiotic Approach, 1976, p. 10. 38 Bouissac, 2016, p. 39.

19 Similarly, Helen Stoddart and Martine Maleval have written chapters about communicative aspects of aesthetics. Martine Maleval gathers common features of three 'Western circus' performances (CWCP) arguing that 'circus' has developed into an art form. Helen Stoddart concludes that 'the circus' (mainly EWCP) with its ”spectacular immediacy” contains aesthetics that prioritize ”effect over thought” and questions whether it could be categorized as ”entertainment rather than art.”39 Although these two and Paul Bouissac contribute with interesting, fundamental groundworks of the communicative and representational matters that I am searching for, I argue that there are two major problems connected to their writings: 1) Due to descriptions of 'the circus' as if it was one entity, not distinguishing between sigificantly different styles developed over time, I cannot give my consent to their generalizing statements, and 2) none of them explore the features of identification and familiarity in details in their analyses. Postmodern circus historians and anthropologists Lisa Burns and Brenda Assael have been inspired by Paul Bouissac's and Roman Jakobsen's studies of semiotics. Brenda Assael has studied the role of 'circus' (EWCP) in the British society during the 19th century's Victorian Age (Paul Bouissac's comments on her book is explicitly addressed in 'acknowledgments'). She explores the communication process, the narrative structure, and the semantics between the performing circus bodies and the audiences at the time: ”As the acts struck the eye and stimulated the imagination, they triggered a system of meaning to be activated and released”.40 Furthermore, she uses linguistic findings to convey contextual validities, how circus performances resembled structures in society. Her book has explicit roots in postmodernism: ”Since this analysis focuses on the performing body as text, it is influenced by linguistic and cultural turns that have shifted the direction of social history over the past generation.” Furthermore, a synchronic methodology is used by taking "historically contextualized 'snapshots'” (p. 10). She explicitly criticizes more traditional scholars' linear approaches and therefore wishes to expose historical gaps regarding the matter of class distinctions between audience and performers, concluding her findings to ”not fit easily into this long-established framework” (p. 9). Entering the past in this way also means deconstructing the existing narratives; she somewhat dematerializes earlier conclusions and requests a palimpsest. Something that scholars such as Michael Means and Lisa Burns have done as well. A response was written by Yoram Carmeli, who has also been studying British 'circus' (EWCP): Although Brenda Assael has a unique take on the role of EWCP in society during the Victorian Age, he articulates how there are certain major problems connected to her arguments and use of methodologies. Even though the book ”makes use of a wide range of new documentation” which brings new discoveries into play, he expresses his concerns about ”the

39 Stoddart, 2016, p. 18. 40 Assael, 2005, p. 8.

20 unavoidable limits of the material at the historian's hand.”41 This is not necessarily a problem if the author states an awareness of it; but it can become a problem when the historian makes conclusions based on little evidence. In terms of disposition, he states that her 'snapshots' seem ”to have drawn her attention away from the exploration and analysis of the relationship between circus acts.”42 I find the above mentioned critique by Yoram Carmeli to resemble some of the possible downsides to postmodern approaches as mentioned earlier: 1) A lack of coherency between analyzed elements can lead to arbitrariness 2) an inductive investigation has the risk of relying heavily on the author's interpretations, and 3) induction does not necessarily constitute validation for deductive conclusions. The latter referring to the same problem as mentioned about Paul Bouissac. It is my overall opinion that the above mentioned scholars have heightened the academization of circus studies through their pioneering works. However, my crucial objections are these: 1) None of the above stress the importance of distinguishing between early and contemporary styles, 2) none of the above look for traits and tendencies as opposed to definitions – in my view they have problems finding a balance between unifying traditionalism and diversifying postmodernism, 3) none of the above offer specific tools and terminologies to 'appropriately' analyze modes of representation, 4) none of the above engage in a further in-depth, detailed treatment of identification as an important part of contemporary styles, and 5) none of the above has yet suggested the contrast/ oxymoron onstage as a core stylistic feature of CWCP. I turn to Susan Foster's model and rhetorical stylistic theory in my attempt to eliminate these acclaimed gaps.

4.2. Modes of Representation

Susan Foster's modes of representation are a part of a dance model designed for style analysis that consist of five categories: Frame, modes of representation, style, vocabulary, and syntax. Her postmodern, linguistic theory is also inspired by Roman Jakobsen's model of communication; linking symbols, signs, and tropes to cultural and social circumstances. 'Trope' is defined as a 'change or exchange of words' and ”används i retoriken för olika typer av uttryck som ersätter mer 'normala' ord.”43 Such studies of semantics are founded on either a certain degree of similarity or opposition.

41 Https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17991/carmeli-assael-circus-and-victorian-society. 42 Https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17991/carmeli-assael-circus-and-victorian-society. 43 Hammergren, Lena: Form och mening i dansen: En studie av stilbegreppet med en komparativ stilanalys av Mary Wigmans och Birgit Akessons solodanser, 1991, p. 102.

21 When zooming in and focusing on the structural foundation of 'typical' CWCP, I roughly argue - like Lotte Hansen - that these have their starting point from the syntax/ vocabulary/ techniques of EWCP: ”Det konventionelle cirkus leverer råmaterialet til de nye kunststykker i form af akrobatiske færdigheder, rekvisitter og fremførelsen af optrin eller 'numre'” while it is primarily the semantics tied to the syntax that have created the most mentionable and dramatic changes; ”nye måder at bruge færdighederne på, behandler rekvisitterne på helt andre måder, og bryder med distancen til de klassiske 'fuldendte' artister.” 44 Although all categories are important when doing an overall analysis of choreographies and performances,45 each category can also be used separately to identify certain elements that dominate more than others. I will therefore not prioritize the structural foundation since I do not believe that it unfolds the major issue at stake: Identifying socially significant implicit behaviour. It is my belief that the crucial shift lies within the bodies' representation of world images. As Peta Tait and Katie Lavers put it: ”A sense of representing the world through extreme physical action.”46 Therefore, when zooming out and moving to the hermeneutical, contextualising and functionally focused categories - in this case modes of representation - I find that several essences of this shift become more resemblant (if one dares to come with such dogmatic claims when looking at a field that refuses ontologising). Important to note here is the awareness of the fact that decoding modes of representation require, to some extent, a common sense of aesthetic values - a need for sharing semantic codes - to be able to understand and recognize the moving metaphors in a specific culture. As stated by Janet Adshead about dance choreographies: ”The perceiver has to have some idea of what a dance is, and this, in turn, depends on having seen people doing something that has been labelled in this way.”47 Something that, in rhetorical terms, could be called doxa: A common, tacit understanding of shared norms and values in a society (which could be linked to Michel Foucault's theory about épistèmes). In this case: Aesthetic doxa.

Susan Foster describes mode of representation as ”the way the dance refers to the world.”48 According to Lena Hammergen, a purpose of this theory is to shed a more nuanced 44 Hansen, 1998, p.180. 45 Syntax (ie. Labanotation) can be an important tool for describing the physical execution of movements on a more 'objective' level, not relying as heavily on hermeneutics. However, as Albert Mehrabian states: ”The only comprehensive system of (dance) notation describes movements merely as motion, with no reference to what they signify. Such reliance on physical description alone for nonverbal and implicit verbal behaviour is inadequate”...”it fails to provide guidelines for identifying socially significant implicit behaviour” (Hanna, Judith: ”Dance?” in To Dance is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal Communication, 1988, p. 41). 46 Lavers & Tait, 2016, p. 5.

47 Adshead, Janet: ”An Introduction to Dance Analysis” in Carter, Alexandra: The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, 1998, p. 166. 48 Foster, Susan: Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, 1986, p. 59.

22 light on the juxtaposing images ”det 'verklighetsnära' och det 'abstrakta'.”49 There are five modes: Reflection (exclusive reference to the performance of movement), imitation (spacial and temporal conformity between represented entity and body movement), resemblance (shift between literal and metaphorical representation), replication (a synechdoche, representing a smaller part of the whole), and reflexive (a combination of modes). The latter has the contrast embedded, a combination of abstraction and 'reality'. Lena Hammergren states how this mode can be seen as ”den typ som blandar de andre och genom denne sammenvävning kommenterar sig själv” (p. 103). This mode is exactly what I will investigate in my synthesis, locating this as a crucial trait of CWCP: Alternating between a focus on the admirable acrobatic skills and their own inscriptive weight (reflection) and spectator's identification with the artist caused by recognizable images that are linked to the outside world (imitation, replication, or resemblance). By claiming that CWCP' rising popularity has been a result of a cumulative development of oxymoronic elements being tied together rather than dichotomized, I enter a similar pursuit in my analyses as in my scientifical approaches. I will add rhetorical stylistic terms to this model since 1) I wish to support the five modes with more detailed terminologies, and 2) additional terms will enable me to avoid forcing everything into the five modes.

4.2.1. Rhetorical Stylistics: Writing & Written Bodies To create a hybrid between the verbal and vonverbal world – to acknowledge both the writing body and the written body – is something that goes all the way back to Aristotle. Supposedly, he was the first in the world to write a philosophical book, Poetik, about artistic processes.50 Poetik derives from the Greek poiesis which means 'to create something'. In this matter, Aristotle invented the word praxis: The motivation behind human action and movement. His stylistic terms are still a fundamental part of rhetorical studies - the postmodern version is entitled 'neoaristotelism' - in which persuasio is a key term: The study of rhetor's ability to touch and convince a recipient. One of five ways to achieve this is actio: The bodily representation in a communicating situation. The few scholars that have investigated actio, ie. Merete Onsberg,51 have concluded that bodies' signals can be stronger and more efficient in areas where verbal decodings are absent.52 One of the reasons being the multisensory ability of

49 Hammergren, 1991, p. 103. ´ 50 Engel, Lis; Rønholt, Helle; Nielsen, Charlotte S.; Winther, Helle: Bevægelsens poetik – om den æstetiske dimension i bevægelse, 2006, p. 10. 51 Onsberg, Merete: ”'Kan du se hvad jeg mener? - om kroppen i retorisk perspektiv” in Rubicon, Vol. 13, 2005. 52 Relevant here could be to mention my BA in rhetorical studies about the Colombian politician, Antanas Mockus, whose political methods were truly unorthodox: Through ie. nonverbal campaigns and social experiments - such as running through the city dressed as Superman himself or having mimes and dancers regulate street traffic - he became a succesful mayor of Bogotá in 1995; creating noteworthy changes for the

23 the body: The sight, smell, touch, and sound of moving bodies, the feeling of kinesthetic empathy and interpersonal relations, the activation of the proxemic sense etc. Therefore, dance and circus performances can potentially stand as extremely powerful ways of communication. When performing bodies are translated into words and these words are translated into other words, it could most certainly be claimed to enter the worlds of rhetorics. The rhetorical scientifical discourses have gone through much of a similar development as the studies of dance and circus. When Lloyd Bitzer stated that language stands as an inevitable, neutral response to circumstances, it was deeply opposed by rhetoricians such as Richard Vatz in the 1970s (interestingly during the same time as postmodern movements, new circus styles and dance styles were expanding). He accused Lloyd Bitzer of determinism; the conveyor is deprived of responsibility and agency. The situation does not control rhetorics, rather, it is vice versa: Subjectivity through rhetor's choices and interpretations of words most certainly affect circumstances. Since postmodern rhetoricians advocate that language partly constitutes the world, it can also mean that the world can be changed by language. The establishment of rhetorics as an academic discipline could be claimed to be a causal product of the linguistic turn and the acknowledged power behind words. Moving to the sphere of rhetorical stylistics, there is an overall term invented by Aristotle, ornatus: To decorate and furnish language, to provide language with artistry. This is not to be confused with sophistry, rather, it is the exploration of the decorative language's effect on persuasio. An interesting note here is that postmodern neoaristotelians have implemented rhetorical stylistics that are not just emphasizing perfection and ideal writings, but also endorse the flawed and incoherent as a powerful way of using ornatus. This matter I shall return to. Thus, a hybrid between rhetorical ornatus terms and Susan Foster's modes of representation will be created in an attempt to unravel the forces of specific labels and world images attached to circus performers and performances. To explore the reciprocal forces of creating/ created identities and the potential effect that this has on societal developments.

4.3. EWCP: Unfamiliar Families & 'Freakery' This chapter will be concerned with depicting characteristics of EWCP; focusing on elements such as theme, structure, movement styles, costumes, props, and scenography. Tomi Purovaara argues that the circular stage setting (initially made for the horseriders to keep their balance using the centrifugal force) played a symbolic role: 'Circus' as a microcosm - its own little

inhabitants (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2004/03/academic-turns-city-into-a-social-experiment/).

24 closed universe - where families would live with no disturbance from the outside.53 Similarly, it is added in The Many Worlds of Circus that “the ring was practical, but also metaphoric. It became a magic space in which things happened that were far more remarkable than what went on outside the ring.”54 The ring could be said to stand as a mode of replication: A smaller representation of a bigger picture; a mysterious and secluded world where things out of the ordinary took place. A world deviating from 'reality'.

Despite a lot of mystery surrounding EWCP, there is nothing mysterious about a typical structure of a show. Acts are mostly independent of one another. As Ernest Albrech puts it, each act starts "anew to establish itself and make an impact",55 relying on the spectacle. This means that the mode of reflection becomes a crucial element: Focusing on the conveyance of skills. Yoram Carmeli explains how this concept can be an efficient way for a show to carry on even though parts are missing; ”it can be decomposed and its acts attached to other shows". 56 Cancelling an act does not cause much disruption and the creative demands are thereby maintained low. About acrobats' contracts with companies, Ron Beadle and David Könyöt write that ”the extent to which the physical content is open to negotiation is limited.” 57 The choreography of the act would therefore usually be somewhat pre-defined and based on the mode of reflection. Thus, no intentional stylistic coherency between various elements, and no threads tied to a theme nor the audiences' lived world; and no other modes than reflection present when executing a trick. The (impressive) trick refers to itself – not to recognizable world images as part of a narrative - meaning that the reflexive mode of presentation is absent, since various modes do not occur simultaneously. However, there is one threaded exception: The ringmaster guiding an audience verbally through a show containing a welcome, introductions of artists before each act, and a farewell. An important factor of creating some kind of coherence (Ron Beadle and David Könyöt mention Circus Harlequin's shows as a clear example of the ringmaster's important position), still with the mode of reflection in the foreground since the verbal guidance is mainly based on exclusive references to the literate action taking place. But since this function is also based on greeting and welcoming the guests, it could stand as a form of captatio benevolentiae: To capture the goodwill of an audience at the beginning of a speech; showing how they are taken into consideration.

53 Purovaara, Tomi: An Introduction to Contemporary Circus, 2012, p. 64. 54 Sugarman, 2007, p. 1. 55 Albrecht, Ernest: The Contemporary Circus: Art of the Spectacular, 2006, p. 109. 56 Carmeli, Yoram: ”Played By Their Own Play: Fission and Fusion in British Circuses” in The Sociological Review, 1987, p. 762. 57 Beadle, Ron; Könyöt, David: ”The Man in the Red Coat: Management in the Circus” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p.70.

25 The structure of an acrobatic act would usually be built on climax, with the most dangerous and difficult trick last (following a drum roll); only to be interrupted by applauses after selected tricks. Ann McFerrin calls it an "anthology of predictable numbers" and "routines which inevitably climaxed in bangs".58 Once again, the mode of reflection is represented and audience members are for the most part reduced to being somewhat passive spectators, enjoying the artistry. However, as much as the repetitive build-up of tricks could be seen as redundance (repetitions that lead to predictability and boredom), it can also be seen as anaphora: Repetition of the same word (movement) at the beginning of every sentence (trick), but each time with different endings as a way of creating suspense and excitement. Each time preparing a trick the same way – creating an unwritten contract with an audience that skills will advance and become increasingly dangerous - however, they do not know in which new and impressive way a trick will be executed.

In terms of music, EWCP usually have orchestras and brass bands playing and these bands characteristically play dramatic or solemn marches, fanfares, and operatic selections. Routines are oftenly not choreographed to the music; however, musical cues could be used for the entrance of the performers of a particular act. As goes for acrobats' costumes, they tend to be 'fancy', shiny, and tight. When Lotte Hansen states that an acrobat would typically be hidden behind ”et lag af pailletter, glimmer og kraftig sminke,”59 this layer indicates a metaphorical and literal distance to the spectator. An example could be Circus Harlequin's shows, where acrobats were wearing one-piece sequinned leotards, the ringmaster a long, red, golden coat, and troops were wearing multicoloured costumes. Lots of sequinned leotards can also be found in ie. Ringling Brothers' shows from 1966 and 1968.60 EWCP had tendencies of representing the acrobatic body as complete, disciplined, strong, flexible, controlled, and superior; according to Martine Maleval, an almost ”anonymous matrix body.”61 A tight, shiny costume highlights this superior body. I consider such features to stand as modes of replication: Choosing to focus on certain parts of a whole, in this case deliberately creating emphasis on idealized or exaggerated world images that distance themselves from 'everyday like' images.

When taking a closer look at the mode of replication, a synechdoche originates from Greek, meaning 'simultaneous understanding'. The term is used to cover both the stylistic features of pars pro toto (Latin expression translated as 'a part (taken) for the whole') and its opposite totum pro parte where the whole is used to describe a part. This means that a spectator

58 McFerrin, Ann: ”Circus Magic” in Time Out (December), 1981, p. 9. 59 Hansen, 1998, p. 190. 60 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324VbAdtn4k & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlP-NPcsV1c. 61 Maleval, 2016, p. 61.

26 cannot locate the exact meanings of the movements with certainty; however, parts of these uncertain meanings tend to be communicated strongly through either exaggerations or understatements. Various rhetorical terms can be linked to such representations: When taking use of amplificatio, one wishes to create emphasis on the part of the whole, or the whole of the part, by making it bigger, biggER and BIGGER! and it has its antonym, minutio, to cover the intention of reducing its importance. Within the sphere of amplificatio, the stylistic feature of hyperbole is to be found: An obvious and intentional exaggeration (its antonym is litotes, meaning to diminish the importance of something, often at the expense of something else).

Linking this to the architecture, costumes, and music, I argue that hyperboles are used in order to create amplificatio on being out of the ordinary. Deliberately exaggerating images to sheet the ring with a mysterious and spectacular aura in which laymen cannot enter. These modes of replication could similarly be applied to the backstage life of EWCP. According to Paul Bouissac, there were typically "class distinctions, hierarchical segregation, functional division of labour, and a proud concern for genealogies".62 Along with the concepts of families owning and operating the companies came a focus on seniority; a fourth generation performer would be given more respect and power than one of first generation. Ron Beadle and David Könyöt address how ”the essential unit” of travelling circuses ”is the family and this marks a distinctive feature of its employment relations.”63 Family members would be prioritized in general, and their children would oftenly be expected to learn acrobatic specialties that could fit the show. By favouring family members and valuing seniority, it could be said that amplificatio was put on specific parts of a whole; on distinct prioritizations of chosen matters within a bigger picture. Causing minutio on artists from the 'outside' world. Not only would the ringmaster be the glue that held the show together onstage, he would usually have somewhat of a similar position backstage: Attending negotiations between hired artists and directors; overall functioning as a mediator between the 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. Added to the above, Ron Beadle and David Könyöt articulate how ”The West 'has always had a lack of understanding of nomadic cultures'” (p.69). These aspects underline uncommon world images onstage as well as backstage. Uncommon world images which I argue to result in an uncommon ground onstage between sender and receiver.

Linking the hyperbolic modes of replication to aerial acts of danger onstage, Paul Bouissac states the following: ”For all humans, stability on the ground is tantamount to safety. The sense of danger increases with instability and height, and the loss of contact with anything 62 Bouissac, Paul: "The Circus’ New Golden Age" in Canadian Theatre Review, 1989, p. 7. 63 Beadle & Könyöt, 2016, p. 70.

27 that can be gripped or grasped necessarily generates anxiety. The various apparatuses which are constructed in the circus space reproduce extreme situations.”64 It is my claim that the physically extreme situations and the physical 'loss of contact' through height and danger also act out on metaphorical levels, generating anxiety and distance between actors and recipients. As much as the feature of danger within EWCP represents 'authenticity' in the sense of artists genuinely risking their lives, I argue that the stylistic treatment of this feature is oftenly handled in a way that would either reduce it/ cover this up from the artist's point of view (litotes) or turn it into exaggerated 'fake authenticity' to the public (hyperbole). Even though an audience member could be frightened and excited, this was usually not to be exposed within an acrobatic performer: He/ she would go along with the illusion, smiling and seeming calm. In an ostentatious attempt to provide the act with constant superiority and to maintain a focus on advanced modes of reflection.

Thus, I claim that distance is created both on a metaphorical and literal level. Paul Bouissac states the following: ”The distance from the spectators makes it possible for the performer to flash wide smiles which occult other facial signs of effort and anxiety. The bright white of the upper teeth which are uncovered in such performed smiles visually offsets the muscular contractions in the upper face, notably around the eyes, an area which is necessarily tense and focused during balancing acts” (p. 41). This means that the literal distance between a spectator and an acrobat flying in the air enables a way of maintaining a performing mask; a mask which I argue to metaphorically create distance to a spectator as well. If anything goes wrong during an acrobatic act, it is usually not to be shown nor commented upon. The artist will quickly get back up on his/ her feet and repeat the trick, most likely with success this time. At the end, the acrobat will seek applause through wide, staccato gestures towards the audience. This could be said to cause litotes in terms of 'bringing a human scale to performance': Removing flawed and imperfect images. Just like physical 'stability on the ground is tantamount to safety', I believe that an emotional common ground is tantamount to identification. Therefore I conclude this feature to be absent in such instances.

On the other hand, when creating hyperbolic expositions of danger (what I call 'fake authenticity'), Paul Bouissac states that this is done to entice the audiences through a ”production of a cluster of signs of authentication” (p. 41): Examples could be the use of drum rolls to stall the moment, the use of artists mimicking fear - ie. by making a sign of the cross, indicating that they are ready to confront death or shaking the body as a nervous wreck

64 Bouissac, 2016, p. 42.

28 (appearing as modes of imitation) - before performing a daring trick (reflection). Furthermore, tricks could be part of controlled failures (replication); illusive mistakes that require intense rehearsing. When succeeding with the trick in the end, ”occasionally artists would be mimicking relief by tilting their face up towards the sky and extending their arms in a gesture of gratitude to the divine power” (p. 41); indicating with these movements (appearing as modes of imitation) that they survived because of help from above. Following these examples, it could be argued that the reflexive mode of representation is activated due to shifting in and out of abstract and 'reality'-like images, leaving the addressée with feelings of both closeness to and distance from the artist: The trick becomes not only an impressive exposition of skills, but also a part of a narrative in which a human being is battling gravity and death; the trick standing as a symbol of the intimidating and difficult obstacles of life that one has to overcome by being courageous. In this case, one could argue that identification is present.

However, I am highly sceptical of such indications. These 'signs of authentication' could also stand as signs of hyperbolic caricatures designed solely to the public; signs that are not based on genuineness within the artists and therefore not received genuine either. Modes of replication as opposed to modes of imitation. Imitation is a feature where metonomy is used as a stylistic figure, using synonyms or replacing an expression with something from the same sphere of universal meaning: In other (bodily) words, body images that are conformitavely linked to 'reality'. If narrative movements become too exaggerated, the link to 'reality' weakens, potentially leaving the audiences to not engage in a nonverbal agreement of higher powers being involved within this process, nor to believe that the artist is actually shaking this much from nervousness (at least not young people/ adults). Not believing that the artists themselves are feeling exactly what they are representing. Instead of creating identification, it could be argued that amplificatio is created on a specific part of the whole picture in order to entertain. Drawing upon my lived experiences as an acrobat performing demanding tricks, one of the only features, that will indicate an 'authentic' element of danger originating within an artist, is the pause that is taken for him/ her to prepare and deeply concentrate before executing the trick. That moment I claim to be 'pure' and 'true'.

However, these are speculations since I have not myself been present during such acts of EWCP. My views are rooted in a postmodern way of thinking, placing this 'human scale' as a stylistic feature to strive for. Features such as escapism or enjoyment - experiences purely out of the ordinary with no reference to the 'real' world – are stylistic features that can be just as valid. It is mainly through the contextual validities that common value of features can be

29 determined. When Hugues Hotier listed doctrines in an attempt to embrace the onthology of 'circus' (EWCP), he included the following: 1) Circus should include animals, clowns, and a ring as a show stage, and 2) the aesthetic dimension has to cause admiration, beauty, skills, and nobility.65 I argue the first point to refer to modes of replication, and the latter to refer to modes of reflection. These doctrines are to me obvious examples of a more traditional mindset and how Thomas Kuhn's theory about paradigm shift becomes apparent: Doxa has changed dramatically in terms of the values we praise and how we praise them.

Moving to the bodily representations during acts' entrances, presentations, applauses, and exits: I argue that these sections are clearly outward presentations towards the spectators, and clearly divided from transitions, preparations, or the actual advanced executions of tricks (which could stand as more introvert modes of representation). Thus, it is communicated heavily which parts of an act/ the show that are reaching out to the public and which that are withdrawing the energy back to the 'inside' due to practical circumstances. One could reasonably assume that entrances, presentations, applauses, and exits are sections with modes of imitation, since these sections place the human beings at the centre of performance. However, the pointed feet while walking, the staccato and sculpture-like body positions, the clear-cut lines of arms reaching out for an applause are not linked to 'normal' bodily behaviour. Clear examples of this are once again Ringling Brothers' shows.66 A distance is thereby created to imitation; the movements do not appear conformatively linked to 'reality'.

An interesting discourse concerning links to 'reality' could be found surrounding clown acts of EWCP. As one of the only acts of EWCP, clowns serve purposes such as interaction with an audience, and smaller storytellings of failed actions, in order to evoke laughter. Obviously it is inadequate to categorize clowns within one stereotypical group; there are many variations of clown types. Most known is 'The Auguste': A clown of lower status who is more clumsy and incompetent; typically with red nose, huge eyebrows, and painted oversized mouth. First appearances of this type were made in 1877, then later developed by ie. Tom Belling, Paul Fratellini, and Coco the Clown. Other variations include 'The Whiteface' (smarter, higher status, and more sophisticated), and 'The Tramp' (a more pity-appealing version of 'The Auguste'). I will be focusing on 'The Auguste' which was highly exposed within EWCP. Helen Stoddart mentions how ”the clumsy, preposterously big-footed Auguste clowns are bound to an earth to which they constantly fall and are defeated.”67 Similarly, Paul Bouissac mentions that a

65 Hotier, Hugues: Cirque, Communication, Culture, 1995, p. 181. 66 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324VbAdtn4k & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlP-NPcsV1c. 67 Stoddart, 2016, p.30.

30 clown who ”fails to properly sit down on a chair and collapses in the ring or trips on a straw exposes human inferiority.”68 These are indications of a focus on the 'human scale', standing in opposition to an aerial acrobat defying or resisting gravity. Although these are interesting points, it is my overall claim that these occurring emotions are not linked to modes of identification. They maintain hyberbolic replications.

'The Auguste' can definitely stand as a confrontation with universal 'human' images such as stupidity, catastrophe, destruction, misbehaviour, and inappropriateness. But most oftenly these images are wrapped in charicature, parody, and slapstick humour. Stylized hyperboles occur in both the choices of costume, movement quality, and storytelling. Tripping on a straw, falling from a chair, appearing big-footed and clumsy are exaggerated bodily representations. The reasons for such can be to promote understanding: Conveying small, nonverbal stories can cause movements of caricature to become dominating in order to communicate these intentions clearly. Amplificatio is thereby created on a clarifying body language. But a stylistic reason can also be to convey behavioural deviance. Louise Peacock mentions how an audience laughing at a clown slipping on banana skin is activated due to the awareness that the image is not 'real': ”If he turns out to be really hurt, the audience stops laughing.”69 This also means that the mode of imitation is not present: There is not conformity between represented entity (parody that causes laughter) and the performed steps (falling/ hurting). Pretending to be hurt from the fall leads back to my analysis of pretended elements of danger in acrobatic acts. I claim that these hyperbolic clown representations create contrasts – not onstage through the reflexive mode of representation – but between sender onstage and receiver in the seat: An audience member is not left with an aching, sympathetic feeling of identification with the failed actions, instead he/ she is left with a feeling of superiority compared to the clown. An important premise of a clown act is to make spectators laugh. Laughter and comedy, in this context, are dependent on an emotional separation between those who laugh and the object of laughter. If sympathy and empathy were emotions to strive for, the stylistic wrapping of the act would have been completely different. I therefore claim that distance, through hyperboles, is a necessary precondition. Obviously some sort of recognition and commonality must be present in order to evoke laughs, which is exactly why the mode of replication is taken into use. But the feature of identification is, in my view, absent. 70

68 Bouissac, 2016, p. 86. 69 Peacock, Louise: ”Clowns and Clown Play” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 86. 70 As a sidenote to this, Louise Peacock mentions how postmodern clowning routines have shown deeper traits of ”what it means to be human” (p. 88): Expressing sadness or loneliness that is not meant to attract laughs.

31 These sorts of deviant bodily representations also include wild or domestic animals, trained to perform advanced physical skills that are unusual for animals. This is one of the absolute core signatures of EWCP. Most oftenly these skills and movements are linked to some kind of human physical behaviour: Whether it is bears riding motorcycles, Barnum & Bailey's elephants doing hand stands/ 'trunk stands' - using only their frontfeet and trunks - or a dog act by The Zoppés where two dogs are dressed up as a human married couple standing on their hind feet or climbing ladders.71 Furthermore, they are often seen wearing glittery accessories, hats, capes, or fancy collars. In these cases, I consider the mode of imitation to be completely absent: Animals are not showing conformity between represented entity and behavioural movements, in fact the whole point is just the opposite: Creating extreme situations that are completely out of the ordinary and out of their natural habitat. However, the acts are built upon recognitions of 'normal' human bodily behaviour which could be linked to the rhetorical term paronomasia: The act of using words (movements) that sound (look) alike but that differ completely in meaning; usually taken into use when attempting to activate the recipients' attention. There would be nothing extraordinary about a human being performing these movements, but they become extraordinary when performed by animals. Once again, I claim that ornatus is based on modes of replication. These hyperbolic representations of animals – created and controlled by human beings - have become increasingly criticized and condemned by the postmodern 'outside world'; ie. resulting in the Ringling Brothers' announcement of retiring their elephants in 2016.72

The increasing amount of negative mentionings also include the Danish – and biggest early Western circus company in the Nordic countries - Cirkus Arena. This time concerning frustrated elephants attacking cars, and a collapsing tent supposedly due to lack of safety precautions.73 Being a consulting artistic director of their show 'Vild med cirkus'74 in 2016, I experienced on my own body how conceptualizations of EWCP are not in accordance with present doxa. Not appearing to be an integrated part of a postmodern world. The hierarchical segregation was impossible to not notice right away and determined the whole process: Manager since 1976 and oldest family member, Benny Berdino, is obviously granted the highest status, followed by his son and show leader Jackie Berdino, then his grandson and 'crown prince' Patrick Berdino - a main figure in their shows, and explicitly expected to take

71 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKl9eHhUQa0 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyPtyuRKLw. 72 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR8GEPWqNdo. 73 Https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/teltkollaps-anklager-kraever-faengsel-til-cirkus-boss & http://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2015-07-11-cirkus-optog-ude-af-kontrol-her-gaar-elefant-amok-paa-bil. 74 Https://ida.dk/sites/default/files/styles/twothird/public/284x206-arena2016.jpg?itok=xv7aV6oV.

32 over the company one day – and lastly, Suzanne Berdino (Benny Berdino's daughter) who functions as an assistant for the male family members. The artists and technicians that were brought in from other countries (mainly Poland and Romania) were also clearly of lower status, ie. living in much smaller wagons than the family members and mostly talked to in condescending ways. Although being aware of past negative stories concerning the company, I tried to greet them with an open mind and to consider the assignment as 'fieldwork'.

My first meeting with the family took place in their secluded home in Slagelse, hidden behind the large 'Cirkusland'75 that can be visited off season by the public. The first thing that captures my sight, as I enter the living room, is a stuffed real-size hippopotamus which Jackie Berdino proudly tells me that he has shot himself at a safari in Tanzania. During the meeting, it slowly became apparent how my creative freedom as a consulting artistic director of the show was very limited due to the pre-defined structure of independent acts constituting the whole show. I was therefore left with a mere function of attempting to tie a theme to the three ringmasters since this could not be tied to the acts. When we started rehearsals in the tent during winter, I witnessed family members chain-smoking cigarettes onstage in front of the artists who were wearing winter clothes during training, simply because the family chose to save money on heating machines. I was altogether shocked by my experience that I chose to cancel my hiring agreement ('fieldwork') after a few weeks without receiving payment. I simply could not vouch for the company's methods.

However, I find it important to note the following concerning the anthropological context of unfamiliar family circus companies and EWCP: Through globalization came a broader sense of common ground and unity, of a more universal doxa. Sharing values and working together across the globe despite of differences, or even because of it. But as goes for the majority of EWCP, they originated in a time where this was not nearly as widespread a phenomenon and where completely different values were praised. Onstage, universality was not a common stylistic feature to take use of. The term 'otherness' could instead be used about EWCP' incorporation of styles and historical 'representations' from other continents: Looking at these representations in the year of 2017, they were oftenly stylized in, if not a prejudiced manner, then in a more reduced, mythical, or 'ignorant' manner (although in many cases most likely not intentionally). Since awareness of other parts of the world was not as available to laymen, EWCP played a potential powerful part in sharing and distributing new anthropological knowledge.

75 Https://www.arena.dk/cirkusland.

33 Helen Stoddart articulates how ”The circus has a long-standing tradition of 'exhibiting' representatives of African, Asian and South American cultures, though frequently their ethnic differences has been accompanied by some defining oddness or strange ability.”76 Coming from a postmodern perspective on EWCP' historical representations, she states how they ”empty them of realism, history and authenticity” (p. 32). Even dated back to Philip Astley's representation of ”the 'Three Monstrous Craws, Wild Born Human Beings' as inhabitants of an obscure South American tribe, when in fact they were later discovered to be Italian village dwellers suffering from severe gout” (p. 36). She also mentions how a show by Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey in 1989 contained an African theme which ”on the one hand, genuinely seeks to present some of the rituals of the Natal Province through the dances of several Bantu warriors, but, on the other hand, it would be hard to find a more dense concentration of colonialist myth” (p. 32). She exemplifies this statement with citings of their show program, including labels such as the 'dark continent', the 'jungles of Africa', the 'hidden African continent', the 'uncivilised territory', a 'tribal war dance' and a 'fantastic once-in-a- lifetime adventure'. These over-simplified, primitive, and exotic ways of exposing another culture could bring associations to the minstrel show phenomenon and blackface traditions, evolving from different American entertainment traditions such as travelling EWCP (ironically, the decline of the minstrel concept was partly due to the competition of P.T. Barnum's sideshow concept). In rhetorical studies, euphemisms are used as replacements of offensive words with lighter equivalents in order to not repulse or provoke an audience and to make sure messages are conveyed politically correct, not reduced to absurdity. The stylistic term reductio ad absurdum (or dysphemism) means exactly the latter - replacing a neutral word with a harsher word - and is considered unvirtuous. When such over-simplified modes of replications are made, I claim that reductio ad absurdum comes into play, causing gaps between cultures; once again, pulling from past founding aims of entertaining Western audiences, not necessarily to dwell into historical accuracy.

Based on my analyses so far, I conclude EWCP to be taking use of primarily reflection and replication; modes that are further away from images of 'reality' and recognition. Modes that create gaps rather than ties between artists and spectators, mainly represented through unique skills and hyperbolic ornatus. Bodily extremities that, each in their way, cause an audience member to point fingers at an actor onstage: Both in awe and in suspicion, in surprise and in shock. Pointed fingers as opposed to a reaching hand. Thus, the relationship between sender and receiver becomes asymmetrical. Staying within the stylistic sphere of hyperboles 76 Stoddart, 2016, p. 36 (footnotes).

34 and reductio ad absurdum, I will now move to what I consider being a highly significant feature of EWCP: The expositions of anomaly in sideshows. A feature that stands in opposition to superior and 'perfect' acrobatic bodies, but at the same time has something in common with these: Extreme body representations. I will investigate the anomalous body's linguistic constructions and the active role that expressions can have in creating circus identities.

4.3.1. Interpellations of EWCP: 'What a Circus!' Rhetorician Maurice Charland has researched constitutive rhetorics and its causal impacts on histories and cultures. His deconstructionist approach has lead to the investigation of its active ability to shape identities and phenomenons in a given community. By unmasking rhetorical narratives, he discovered how they could be of great significance in shaping doxa. He investigated the term interpellation: A word that covers the act of creating an identity/ a persona construction through framed words. Once these framings are activated in a society, they can play a powerful role in building certain world images. I argue that interpellation is a relevant tool to apply in order to clarify the power that literary expressions can have. When looking at these in everyday speech, some of them could be argued to have negative etymological meanings attached to them; in other words, negative interpellations. The word 'circus' can be claimed to occasionally stand as a negative predicate: A sentence like ”what a circus!” is often used as a metaphor for a chaotic, messy situation. Similarly, ”what a clown!” and ”what a 'freak'!”/”what a 'freak show'!” are common phrases; this time about someone/ something that could be either rather clumsy/ idiotic or rather repulsive/ bizarre. Expressions that I interpret to arise from EWCP. A Danish term that could also be said to carry negative interpellations related to circus identities of EWCP is 'gøgler' ('mountebank'/'saltimbanco'). I would interpret this word to be referring to an over-simplified form of 'hippie' or a random street performer whose profession is difficult to take seriously; in worst cases a 'loafer'. Author Jon Vedel articulates the problems that this word has caused; how the past's prejudiced interpellations has affected the image and status of the current profession as a circus artist: ”Desværre har efterkommerne ikke altid villet vedkende sig deres ophav, muligvis på grund af den sociale ringeagt, der fra gammel tid har knyttet sig til begrebet gøgler.”77 The word's denotation could be defined as a travelling artist or entertainer, deriving from the french word jongleur from Middle Ages describing a person performing comedies, music, or artistry (Nordic translation: 'Legere'). Going back to Viking

77 Vedel, Jon: Gøgler af Guds nåde, 1992, pp. 10-11.

35 Ages, a 'gøgler' was perceived as a person of lower status in the hierarchy despite occasionally performing for royal households.78 I would state that the use of term is not nearly close to being relevant today; rather, it is a label construction of reductio ad absurdum under which various types of artistry belong, loaded with condescending connotations attached to the past. However, in everyday speech, it is still used in a circus related context, though mostly as a humourous or ironic comment/ response to old conceptions. Coming back to the 'freak show', Helen Stoddart states that ”one of the most important dimensions of circus aesthetics is the concept of anomaly.”79 The exposition of human oddities have supposedly existed since the first St. Bartholomew Fair in London in 1102, but P.T. Barnum stands as the first man to truly market and commercialize these oddities within a context of EWCP. The anthology Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body is an example of a synchronic concept analysis of the framed 'freak' in America and the discourses connected to the construction of the word's semantic codes; focusing on its most intense manifestation in the 19th and 20th century. By attempting to unravel the term and to install ”the humanity these discourses deny freaks”,80 editor Rosemarie Thomson brings a postmodern 'human scale' to these performers. The term 'freak' possesses many optional euphemisms or positive synonyms, such as 'the extraordinary body' (hence, the book's title) or to use Marc Hartzman's words ”physical wonders, magnificent marvels, peerless prodigies, and peculiar performers.”81 Positive connotations were supposedly attached to the 'freak' originally, according to Rosemarie Thomson: The word is claimed to emerge in 1637, meaning a 'fleck of color', and broadens to mean 'whimsy/fancy' from the 17th century. All the way back to Stone Age, a 'freak' was perceived as nature's abundance, as a creation designed by God, as something wondrous and laudable. A divine creation out of the ordinary was to be cherished. Etymology that does not appear negative at all due to religious, precapitalist interpretations. Rosemarie Thomson also articulates how the word developes into meaning 'human corporeal anomaly' in the 19th century; shifting the ownership of the 'freaky' body from the higher powers to the scientist. This caused paradoxical reactions in a developing industrialized doxa: Although still very fascinating, the 'freaks' were now also perceived as repulsive mistakes. Thus, a remarkable shift developed in the perceptions of the term: ”Modernity moved the freak from the embodiment of wonder to the embodiment of error” (p. 13). 78 Http://denstoredanske.dk/Livsstil,_sport_og_fritid/Underholdning_og_spil/Performere,_sangere_og_artister/g øgler/ & http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/goeglere-og-spillemaend/. 79 Stoddart, 2016, p. 24. 80 Thomson, Rosemarie: ”From Wonder to Error: A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity” in Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 1991, p. 17. 81 Hartzman, Marc: American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers, 2006, p. 1.

36 How can one word develop into containing such dichotomizing associations, as if it ended up carrying its own antonym?82 Creating first an identity of positive uniqueness followed by a negative? I claim that it is due to the process of interpellation; due to the reciprocal effect that language and society has on one other. A process where the 'freak' becomes an important label to reveal and betoken changing world images. About the 'freaky' modes of representation, Rosemarie Thomson states the following: ”The startling bodies whose curious lineaments gesture toward other modes of being and confuse comforting distinctions between what is human and what is not. What seems clearest in all this, however, is that the extraordinary body is fundamental to the narratives by which we make sense of ourselves and our world” (p. 1). I find it interesting that the exposition of human beings onstage – standing there because of the way that their bodies are built - can challenge the perceptions of 'what is human and what is not'. I argue that this challenge is primarily caused by the ornatus attached to these bodies. When P.T. Barnum stands as one of the main developers in revolutionizing the American EWCP from the mid 19th century, I claim this to be partly due to his created interpellation of the 'freak', his image combination of 'wonder' and 'error'. Anomalous bodies were the central magnets of the shows and dime museums, provided with sensationalized narratives. When dwelling into the representations of these stylized 'freaks', it seems clear how hyperboles were used in an intentional way of interpellating the different individuals as a gathered group of spectacular misfits, standing in complete opposition to 'normalcy'. In many cases, euphemisms were replaced with reductio ad absurdum when describing these 'freaks', as mentioned earlier about EWCP' representations of styles from other continents. From a postmodern angle, no moral nor ethical considerations were taken into account in their entitlements. This stylistic choice could be called an epithet: A descriptive title accompanying or occurring in place of a name - in contemporary use, it often refers to a defamatory or derogatory phrase (if avoiding a negative approach, it could also be called charactonym: Giving fictional characters names that describe them). Labels and adjectives entailed (and exaggerated) their bodily differences with the intention of creating amplificatio on physical abnormality: 'The Bearded Lady of Geneva', 'The Chinese Dwarf', 'The Dog-Faced Boy', 'Four- legged Girl', 'Unicorn Man' or 'Quarrelsome Carrie' from the late 1800s who had the 'double feature' of being both a 'Fat Lady' and a 'Dwarf' and was ”well on the way to becoming a

82 The word 'monster' has gone through a similar development. Derived from the Latin word 'monstra', it means 'show' or 'sign' (from the word 'demonstrate'). Thus, originally no negative connotations attached.

37 Bearded Lady, too.”83 I claim these to be powerful epithets that are important parts of intense persona constructions in a search for the public's attention. Other parts of these persona constructions included: 1) Oral presentations of the 'freak' provided by a showman, 2) pamphlets and advertisements about their lives and identities, 3) stagings through costumes, accessories, and choreography, and 4) drawings/ photographs. In photos, the 'freaks' were often positioned in juxtapositions (ie. a 'Dwarf' next to a 'Giant', a 'Fat Lady' next to a 'Skeleton') to ”intensify by contrast their bodily differences.”84 This could stand as a pleonasm (the use of more words than necessary, such as 'burning fire'): To stylize a 'freak' to not only be different from the public, but also different from another 'freak' could mean an unnecessary intensified interpellation of 'freakiness'. To create amplificatio even more heavily on abnormality. Added to this, Robert Bogdan mentions two contrasting modes of representations; the 'exotic mode' (the primitive 'freak') and the 'aggrandized status mode' (the higher status 'freak'). Through these stylizations, I claim that a process of 'enfreakment' was made: An anomalous body by nature turned into a handmade 'freak' of 'fakery'. Furthermore, by constituting 'freakery' as one amorphous category of 'otherness', I roughly argue this term to simultaneously produce a lid under which ethnicity, race, gender, and disability are placed and vacuum-packed. Leaving no oxygen for 'humans' to breathe. According to Robert Bogdan there is no record of the popular and lucrative 'freak shows' being attacked as offensive until well into the 20th century. This could be seen in relation to industrialization: Machines, routines, efficiency, and nomothetic habits created 'normality' as a new ideal. A relief could potentially be found in seeking escapism through expositions of oddness and strange uniqueness. However, already at the end of the 19 th century, problems seemed to occur concerning the interpellations of the 'freak' amongst performers themselves: Rosemarie Thomson writes that ”the Barnum and Bailey Circus replaced it with the term 'human curiosities' by 1903, supposedly in response to a group protest by the circus freak performers” (p. 13).85 The late 1940s stand as the fall of the 'freak' (which could be seen, among other things, as a reaction towards the treatment of Jews during World War II). Doxa was changing and so were the perceptions of synonyms attached to the term. Slowly, these expositions of 'otherness' began to be regarded as over-simplified, commercially exploitive, and narrowminded. To stare at and profit from these human beings became unethical. 83 Hartzman, Marc: American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers, 2006. 84 Bogdan, Robert: ”The Social Construction of Freaks” in Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, 1991, p. 25. 85 Although the authors are occupied with unravelling the terms 'freak' and 'freakery', they occasionally forget to apply the same awareness on themselves: It would seem appropriate to expect quotation marks when using these actual words, given that the social construction of these is one of the book's main purposes.

38 Helen Stoddart articulates how anomalous representations (ie. in the shape of surrealism) are found in almost every art form; however, they are usually implemented in a context of narrativity or higher purposes. Contrary to this, she claims that EWCP have found ”a pure satisfaction in anomaly which is seen as a delight and an end in itself” (p. 24). That the anomalous body is the very essence of the performance without requirements of ”philosophical framework in order to explain the enjoyment of absurd behaviour” (p. 26). These statements indicate an interesting point: As much as I consider these 'freaky' representations to be hyperbolic replications, they are not necessarily functioning as contextualising parts of a bigger whole, not part of a developing narrative. All of a sudden a 'freaky' body could also appear as if it becomes a mode of reflection: Exclusive reference to the movements of those bodies. The point of departure remains the point, serving the sole purpose of entertaining the spectator in the same way that acrobatic acts of EWCP can do. Only, this time there is no craft involved. When Helen Stoddart argues that EWCP and their ”long-standing reliance on caricature” work through a ”'language (which) is inaccurate... because it is not even trying to be accurate'” (p. 31), she underlines the deliberate stylized intentions of avoiding connections to 'reality'. When images of 'accuracy' are absent, it could roughly be claimed that modes of resemblance and imitation are absent as well. Bringing identification out of play and distance into play. From a postmodern view, the framed interpellations of 'freaks' should not only be seen through stylistic choices of companies, but also through the written choices made by the researchers. An example of a more traditional approach is the book American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers by Marc Hartzman from 2006. Like the title indicates, it could be claimed to be a pandect; an all- encompassing book, listing all the most legendary profiles with physiological titles in chronological order. Their 'specialties' - diseases and abnormalities – are described. By choosing this method - despite use of occasional euphemisms, despite thorough research and despite the fact that the author states an awareness of not entering a sociological perspective on the matter - a tacit acknowledgement of the 'freak' concept could be stated to be present, and thereby passed on through his words. Almost as if 'freaks' are objective facts. Having concluded that being a 'freak' is more of a culturally produced matter than it is a physical condition, I am obviously critical of this method, not allowing a 'human scale' to be implemented. However, concrete and useful facts concerning dates and labels of the performers are gained through this book (and used in this Master thesis) in the midst of the more abstract, hermeneutic theoretization from other - and more deconstructionist - scholars.

39 I roughly conclude that core stylistic features of EWCP were part of the creation of negative interpellations attached to 'circus', to 'gøgler', and to 'freak'. I argue that these interpellations contributed to dichotomous gaps being choreographed between sender and receiver. That these gaps caused EWCP to become a somewhat dying art form, and that the arising popularity of CWCP was due to the elimination of these gaps in a postmodern doxa: Escapism became combined with 'realism'. 'The other' became attached to its antonym 'the similar'.

4.3.2. Potential Objections & Gaps

I will briefly mention a few examples of scholars' interesting research angles that can expose potentially relevant objections and gaps concerning my conclusions about EWCP. ”By 'othering' the circus (EWCP) in this way, critics constructed an anxious view of their world.”86 When Brenda Assael states this comment about British EWCP during the Victorian Age she does so to place a responsibility on the choreographed rewritings of scholars and recipients as I also mentioned above. Some of the more negative established narratives concerning acrobats of the past could potentially be deconstructed, ie. in regards to how ”female and child acrobats were condemned by Christian accusations of immorality. Acrobats were considered repulsive and yet pitied in depictions of circus life in literature and especially in the best-selling waif stories.”87 Thus, rumours and hyperboles produced by circumstancing forces - the 'outside' world – could potentially mean that stylized modes of replication are equally made in negative descriptions of EWCP. The risk of 'othering EWCP in this way' due to constructions of 'an anxious view of their world' includes my analyses as well. Inductive research by ie. Michael Means and Paul Bouissac lead to exposition of gaps concerning my generalized conclusions about EWCP. Michael Means articulates how innovative the 'Grand Entrance Spectacle' by Barnum and Bailey Circus from 1890 was for its time, how it has have been overlooked since it did not fit into the grand narrative of this period, and how it ”challenged the movers and shakers of the circus world to incorporate elaborately theatrical and explicitly uplifting entertainments into the circus performance.”88 He explains that an unusual kind of diversity was present within this spectacle since the 90 minute show was a fusion between artistry, dance, music, and acting (consisting of ie. 128 dancers, costume

86 Assael, 2005, p. 13. 87 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 8. 88 Means, Michael: ”Imre Kiralfy meets Barnum & Bailey – and the Circus Spec is Never the Same Again” in The Many Worlds of Circus, 2007, p. 9.

40 changes, and a moral theme to carry the show). I do acknowledge that this research exposes a gap concerning my analyses (although there are potential problems connected to Michael Mean's use of source material89). The implementation of themes and diversity has obviously happened occasionally in EWCP. Similarly, Paul Bouissac exposes a gap concerning a dog act by Zirkus Roncalli in which a dog – according to him - is represented as more clever than the human trainer standing next to him: Throughout the act, the dog opposes to the orders made by the trainer, and thereby the power structure is turned upside down; leaving the dog as the winner of the crowd's sympathy. The dog is not supplied with a fancy collar; instead he is dirty, playful, and appears more 'natural'. Thus, features of this act seem to move away from the hyberbolic synechdoche and closer to resemblance (or the reflexive mode of representation); offering ”ironic comments upon the whole paradigm of circus acts based on trained animals.” 90 There are obviously examples of acts of EWCP that challenge my conclusions.

4.4. CWCP: Identification & Alienation

An artist performing high skilled acrobatics in the air is not only physically far away from a spectator; he/ she also shows physical abilities that are far away from the spectator's lived world (asymmetric relationship between sender and receiver), and thereby takes use of the mode of reflection. When an artist becomes a character who interacts with the audience or unfolds a narrative through body language, he/ she is either physically closer to the spectators or moving closer to the spectators' lived worlds and thereby enhances the potential of creating a common ground onstage (symmetric relationship between sender and receiver). Thus, other modes than reflection are taken into use. As concluded in previous chapters, reflection can cause the audience to feel more of a passive object to the performance while imitation, replication, and resemblance can cause the audience to feel more of an active subject to the performance. This can mean that there is aesthetically more at stake than causing admiration by demonstrating physical abilities in the form of balance, strength, and general agility. By combining these modes - and thereby taking use of the reflexive mode - the acrobatic acts do not solely rely on one function, but several. It is my claim that the reflexive mode of representation demands a more creative and thought-out approach to the stylistic features of an act/ a show; linking different parts, elements, and moods together.

89 It could be argued to be an unfortunate choice to use Imre Kiralfy's autobiography as an important source; especially since Michael Means does not articulate the awareness of doing so. To take use of essentialisms, concluding that ”it was such a great success” and ”thus the circus spec took a quantum leap forward” based on Imre Kiralfy's comments can be problematic (Means, 2007, p. 4). 90 Bouissac, 2016, p. 45.

41 CWCP have a tendency of presenting acts as an interconnected series of short stories encompassed in a larger storyline, or to use Albrech Ernest's words, ”a thread, to tie together all the individual stories told in the various acts".91 With a rhetorical term, this could stand as a syntagma: A sequence of linguistic units in a relationship to one another. This means that acts cannot simply be added, moved, or removed without consequences, rather, the entire show is organized and set in a particular order in which changes would disrupt the continuity of the performance as a whole. Furthermore, the acts are usually based on small developing narratives within the grand narrative; although flashbacks and fragmented images occasionally disturb chronology, these too are parts of a bigger harmony. This way of stylizing acts has in many instances removed the recurring applauses during an act. Applauds would disrupt the continuity as well as the intensity and presence of the story being told. Lotte Hansen points out how this demands an active and 'moving' spectator: ”Et kropsliggjort oplevelsessprog kræver, at man 'går med' på løjerne og lader sig bevæge.”92 Thus, various modes of representation are activated in order to intensify a certain mood that can result in an equally intensified mood within an audience member. According to Cicero, an orator has three important functions in order to achieve persuasio: Docere, delectare, movere, meaning to teach (inform), to delight (entertain), and to move an audience. The latter I claim to be of high priority in CWCP. When attempting to move a spectator, the use of pathos becomes important: Moving through emotions. There are many ways to take pathos into use.

The implementation of a larger theme is a way of establishing emotions and developing them throughout a show. This has an effect on many stylistic elements that become essential parts of the storytelling, modes of representation, and elements of pathos. Ie. body movements, gestures, and facial expressions become important to carefully place within the routine. Exterior elements such as music, lighting design, props, and costumes often play a significant role in creating/ underlining the atmosphere and carrying the theme; these are most oftenly not isolated effects, but closely tied to the characters and their stories. The examples that I will mention as part of my analyses are all productions that have taken use of these elements. Elements that are mainly intended for more adult audiences: Children have difficulties understanding and relating to the abstract concepts with the theme, and no ringmaster is there to keep them on track (however, they can become stimulated by the multisensory universe). As Martine Maleval articulates, the light can accentuate the performances ”but responds above all to the need to sculpt the space and create convincing emotions through colour and its own

91 Albrecht, Ernest: The Contemporary Circus: Art of the Spectacular, 2006, p. 77. 92 Hansen, 1998, p. 183.

42 ethereal reality.”93 In terms of music, conversely to tendencies of EWCP, the music is often carefully composed for each act. Paul Bouissac mentions an example of this: ”At the most daring moment of René Sperlich's balancing act the music of a song by Queen titled 'The show must go on' was played by the band, thus adding a potentially tragic connotation to the performance.”94 Similarly, in the Cirque du Soleil show 'LOVE', the story could most certainly be said to unfold through music as much as through bodies; the very base of this entire show was to specifically choreograph movements and intentions to the sounds (and histories) of The Beatles. Songs were therefore - throughout the entire show - selected in close connection to the artistry performed onstage as part of the storytelling about the Beatles.

Similarly, the stylistic features of costumes and props are often closely linked to images of 'reality'. It is not uncommon that artists expose their superior abilities while exposing naked skin or wearing everyday clothes of darker colours, such as jeans, jogging pants, t-shirts, or sweatshirts. By removing the glitter and the multicoloured leotards, it could be argued that hyperbolic representations of idealized and 'anonymous matrix bodies' disappear in order to 1) literally wrap the artistic bodies in modes that are moving closer to imitation (through 'normal' clothing) or 2) literally unwrap these bodies of modes that are further away from 'reality' (by exposing skin): Bodies that, besides functioning as 'material' for the circus artistry, become essential parts of the storytelling. Bodies that become more grounded and 'human' while flying high. Lotte Hansen articulates the following as an important message of CWCP: ”Kroppene viser os, hvem de er og forbinder os med (husker os på) vores egne måder at være kroppe på”.95

When Lotte Hansen analyzed a performance piece by the Danish group Nova Exit, one of the things that struck her the most was the artists' ways of combining bravery and gentleness and thereby creating an oxymoron consisting of ”stærk blidhed” (p. 187). This was, among other things, shown through the choice (or lack) of costumes - 'normal' clothing or bare skin - and the use of props. She describes a trapeze duo act that is a love story between two fragile, but physically strong individuals. Wrapping a story around an acrobatic act creates new modes: ”Deres roller bliver omdefineret fra at udstille sensationer til at være bevægelige, sanselige fortællere om, og kropslige symboler på, forelskelsens rus” (p. 188). All of a sudden the trapeze becomes a part of the reflexive mode of representation: ”Trapezen er ikke blot redskab for artistens præstationer, men bliver til en himmelsk gynge for en susende romantisk gyngetur” (p. 194). In this case, the trapeze is not only an object used for exhibiting the mode

93 Maleval, 2016, p. 61. 94 Bouissac, 2016, p. 42. 95 Hansen, 1998, p. 180.

43 of reflection, but also creates an image of resemblance; a shift between literal and metaphorical meanings. An artist is often seen creating stories or relationships around a prop, shifting in and out of expositions of the body's superiority and the body's sporadic limitations in terms of mastering or coping with this specific object. This helps create an image of a 'normal human being' that is fragile, challenged, or feels inadequate.

An earlier example of props and costumes being important parts of a thematic coherence is the French company Cirque Baroque. Martine Maleval calls this company 'un cirque a lire' (/'a circus to be read') since their productions are claimed to be greatly influenced by expressing literary works through acrobatic movements. In the piece 'Ningen', a wire is turned into a contribution to the mode of resemblance as the wire-walker artist balances above brokers on a stock exchange floor, ”moving symbolically and feverishly in relation to the market.”96 Martine Maleval also mentions an interesting feature, concerning costumes, where the artists use masks to highlight the expressive lines on their faces as a solution to the challenges of not disengaging themselves from their character constructions. As stated earlier, it is crucial for an acrobat to take a moment of concentration before performing highly demanding skills. This moment can be difficult to integrate within storytelling since it can cause a sense of unintentional anti-climax: The poetry disappears or gets interrupted by a practical necessity – ie. a shift is seen in facial expressions since the artist is incapable of staying in character - meaning the narrative modes of representation are difficult to maintain. Masking these faces help maintaining the mood created.

However, already here I claim a paradox to arise: As I stated earlier, the moment where an artist pauses and concentrates is a moment of what I consider to be 'authentic'. It is my claim that an increasing postmodern interest in the 'human scale' has caused a developing need from both the performers and the spectators to occasionally take the masks off onstage, showing more of the 'backstage human being' that is underneath (although still somewhat persona constructed); hence my points about the #nofilter campaign and the TV talent show concepts. Therefore, to be 'true' to the moment of concentration – to use this moment as part of the narrative without pretending to be in character - can actually create an intensification of a 'real', identifiable, and pathos-filled story; something which I shall return to.

As mentioned earlier, family traditions and hierarchical segregations have somewhat diminished within companies of CWCP due to anthropological changes. These changes have two significant explanations attached to them: 1) Individuals were no longer born into the

96 Maleval, 2016, p. 54.

44 circus; rather they chose to become circus performers and therefore came from various backgrounds and, 2) the interest in stylistic diversity as well as the growth in budgets (due to an increase in popularity) enabled a gathering of different kinds of artists from all over the world. For example, when the French government behind Prime Minister Francois Mitterand decided to invest in street theatre, and contemporary dance and circus projects, it had a major impact on CWCP' development of diversity: CNAC stands as an important part of a serious establishment with an ambitious education programme from 1985; focusing on multi- disciplinarity, ”rather than to produce autonomous circus acts.”97 Thus, a dramatic shift developed in terms of globalization, social heritage, and the expositions of diversity in CWCP. Mentionable in this matter is for example American juggler and unicyclist, Hovey Burgress, who was a significant figure in the development of CWCP, and has been an influential teacher of circus techniques at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University since 1966: He initially believed that one had to be born into a circus family to become a circus artist, but as he later came to learn that times were changing, he began to pursue his goal.98

Drawing from my lived experiences: Urban gumboot dancers, S'fiso Mavuso and Michael Tumelo, were recruited from the poor ghettos of Johannesburg to Cirque du Soleil's 'LOVE' show. Never did they think that they would be able to achieve this. They choreographed and performed an act of great importance to the show: 'Lady Madonna'. An act/ song about hardworking men and women, struggling to get by in their everyday lives. At the opening of this act, Michael Tumelo appears onstage from a basement lift, as he screams South African words/ sounds and dances a typical African gumboot dance, wearing overalls and yellow gumboots. In this solo performance, I claim clear traits of imitation to be shown in order to create a strong sense of 'authenticity': Through outfit, movements, music, and words, Michael Tumelo becomes a representative of the man that works hard to provide and care for his family, but also a personification of his native country. Since Michael Tumelo choreographed and performed the gumboot solo himself, the African stylistic features of the act move closer to 'reality' and further away from reductio ad absurdum. At the end of his solo, he advances his steps and turn them into exposition of world class gumboot techniques (reflection) that only few people in the world would ever be able to relate to, meanwhile still screaming African words and standing as a 'hardworking' and relatable representation

97 Maleval, 2016, p. 52. 98 Http://soa.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/anthro_theses/linguistic_variation_of_the_american_circus.pdf. & http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/nyregion/hovey-burgesss-high-wire-act-as-teacher-juggler- unicyclist.html.

45 (imitation). Thus, exposing the reflexive mode of representation. Establishing an uncommon and a common ground simultaneously.

Because of their employment with Cirque du Soleil, the two 'hardworking' South Africans from the ghettos were able to provide and care for their families in Johannesburg from across the Atlantic Ocean – in the case of Michael Tumelo, a rare form of imitation could therefore be claimed to arise in the shape of conformity between performed steps, represented (id)entity and lived experience (however, this is not known to the audience). This is an example of the way that CWCP have created a foundation where all sorts of people with various movement styles – including the ones that are not likely to 'join the circus' – are allowed to contribute to its development and various modes of representation. These people affect every feature of CWCP, ranging from the artistry to the social life behind the curtain.

Social commenting on race, sex, and gender related issues are represented in many CWCP. When looking at for instance hand-to-hand acts, it is no longer mainly strong men carrying light women anymore;99 two men or four women can just as easily be seen climbing on one another, showing admirable skills while representing a wider and more diverse perspective. When the house troup in the 'LOVE' show performed group choreographies, there would be black, brown, yellow, and white colors represented on stage simultaneously. Similarly a passionate couple's choreography could consist of an African-American male and a white French male – with choreographic elements such as one flying high on top of the other, one catching the other in a jump or helping him back on his feet after a fall - shifting in and out of strength and fragility, superiority and inferiority. Another example of exposing anthropological diversity by Cirque du Soleil is the show 'Totem': With the intention of representing a world tour of acrobatic anthropology (artists from 20 countries), this show sought a way to marry the diverse athleticism of the show with a diverse representation of world images in terms of ethnicity and origin.

The development of CWCP' transformations into a transdisciplinary field could be seen within a context of many other fields having done similarly. Camilla Damkier mentions how Danish gymnastic traditions have developed into a melting pot of style combinations: ”This way of combining choreographic, theatrical, and acrobatic elements in some way resemble what has taken place with the development of new circus.”100 Was it not for this postmodern development, I do not believe that I myself would have ever considered or been offered to

99 Example of a classic hand-to-hand act from the 1950s: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfE4WQRZhaE. 100 Damkier, Camilla: ”The Circulation and Appropriation of Dance and Circus in Danish Performance Gymnastics” in Dance – Movement – Mobility, 2010, p. 56.

46 become a circus artist: Through my many years as a gymnast in multiple communities/ on multiple teams, I learned primarily acrobatics through competitive gymnastics, but also various movement styles of dance, capoeira, yoga etc. I also travelled around the world as a gymnast for ten months with the National Danish Performance Team in 2001/2002; a team consisting of 28 diverse gymnasts performing and teaching workshops in close to 20 countries. Thus, Danish gymnastics was my entrance to artistic diversity and to becoming a professional acrobat - not CWCP - and these interdisciplinary worlds collided in the meeting with Cirque du Soleil. Furthermore, had it not been for my experiences with Cirque du Soleil, I would definitely not have continued the profession as a freelance acrobat and an artistic creator of CWCP (I was about to study psychology at Copenhagen University when Cirque du Soleil offered me the job). I therefore consider myself very much a result of these changes.

Diversification is also to be found in choices of location and scenography of CWCP: Performances can occur everywhere and range from minimalism to visual abundance. As mentioned earlier, pioneering forces sought their way back to the streets, ie. in order to democratize circus performances. Some of these with rebellious approaches, for example Baron Aligre (inventor of the equestrian theatre Zingaro) performing on a café terasse in Avignon in 1975 tossing real rats to provoke customers (imitation). In a case like this, captatio benevolentiae was not an aim, in fact, an opposite term like indignatio becomes relevant: To arouse negative emotions within the recipients in order to get them stirred up. Circus acts increasingly became social acts, aiming to move slowly, but surely closer to 'real' people through expositions of more 'real' images.

This also meant that the ring and the sawdusty 'mysterious aura' that surrounded the ring slowly became shut down by many CWCP. According to Martine Maleval, Cirque Plume claimed the ring to be more or less banished from their vision in order to move closer to the spectators and further away from ”the exterior aspect of the tent;”101 the tent being synonymous with escapism. They sought creative exterior solutions; ie. a glass cupola for the piece 'Dromesko' or a wooden frame picturing a cathedral to cover stables, allowing a plurality of dimensions. As much as CWCP could be claimed to be based on the syntax of EWCP, animal acts are absent in most CWCP. The piece 'No animo mas anima' by Cirque Plume could stand as a direct critique of the stylistic features of these past acts: ”After having burst out of a cardboard box, an artist with an 'appropriate' body went through conventional exercises performed by wildcats; jumping over obstacles, leaping through a flaming hoop, parading

101 Maleval, 2016, p. 58.

47 around wearing a studded dog collar, submitting to his trainer, a mistress of erotica clothed in a big dress” (p. 60). These intertextualizing meta comments about EWCP activates an interesting reflexive mode of representation which I consider to include a replication of a replication. A hyperbolic representation of a hyberbolic representation.

On the contrary to EWCP (except for clown acts), CWCP have more audience participation in order to gain a closeness between artists and audience. This is often seen already prior to the beginning of a show. I can confirm this by once again implementing my own experiences: One of my tasks as an artist in 'LOVE' was to show guests to their seats. The reflexive mode of representation could be said to be in use since I was walking, interacting, and talking with audience members in a somewhat 'normal' manner (imitation) - wearing a shirt and a skirt - but then all of a sudden doing acrobatic moves on the backs of the seats (reflection) during the conversation. This task partly served the purpose of creating a universe of a more lively and symmetrical relationship between audience and artists from the very beginning. A moment of captatio benevolentiae, intended to be appreciated in vivo (a sensing experience for an active spectator). However, the use of reflection through acrobatic skills creates a juxtaposition to this 'normal' conversation, and without this mode there would be nothing special about the moment other than the spectator having a somewhat pleasant conversation with an artist. The reflexive mode of representation could therefore stand as a tool to both engage and impress audience members in an aim of drawing them more intensely into the universe. Another example of this is 'Loft' by Les 7 Doigts de la Main: Spectators were welcomed on stage by the artists, after going through a refrigerator where they were invited to share apple pie with the performers after the show;102 a way of reaching out and creating a common ground. The above aspects seem to move closer to an overall tendency of a more symmetrical relationship both internally within the cast and between the artists and audience.

Having been a part of such a creative process many times, I can confirm that this is not an easy task for neither creators nor artists. The reflexive mode of representation requires the ability of simultaneously concentrating on graceful execution of advanced skills and telling a story as 'heartfelt' as possible. As an artist in the Cirque du Soleil show 'LOVE', I experienced many cases of the reflexive mode of representation. I will mention three examples:

1) Being a representation of a 'hippie' from the 1960s to the sounds of 'Revolution', written by John Lennon: Posing, peace-signing, acting, dressed, and representing activist behaviour onstage as close to 'reality' as possible (imitation) while jumping on a trampoline,

102 Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf.

48 and doing ten back handsprings in a row (reflection). Onstage, policemen (also acrobats) would be chasing the 'hippies'. Acrobatic tricks become part of this chase, somersaults being symbols of ie. aggressive attacks by the police as well as 'hippies' flying 'high' and falling down to the ground when getting caught. An interesting additional note to this act: Originally the choreography contained an artist somersaulting (reflection) through a big poster of Mao Zedong, causing it to break, while the lyrics went ”but if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow” (imitation). This part was removed since the board of directors were concerned about the political content; in other words, whether the mode of imitation was too direct, too close to 'reality'. 2) Being a representation of a bomb during World War II to the sounds of 'Get Back', written by Paul McCartney: Jumping up and down in a bungee harness tucked as a 'bomb' (replication) that causes destruction of 'buildings' and 'British inhabitants' on the ground (resemblance/ imitation) meanwhile performing advanced aerial acrobatics (reflection). 3) Being a representation of a desirable, unreachable woman to the sounds of 'Something', written by George Harrison: While hanging high up in the air together with three other female artists (wearing white costumes and long, blonde wigs), a male urban dancer was placed in the centre of the stage trying to reach all four of us from the ground (wearing black, looser pants and nothing on his upper body). A thematic contrast therefore appears in the shape of a man who is bound to the ground while dancing (resemblance) versus women flying high. Whenever he would get close to a woman, she would fly away from him. It was the intention that I represented a 'dreamy', feminine woman to lyrics such as ”something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover” (resemblance), while doing multiple somersaults as elegantly as possible when swinging around in the air (reflection). In the end, the male dancer winds up having to obey gravity by falling deep into a hole/ a lift onstage (replication), instead of defying it by flying away with one of the women. He does not succeed.

Through these examples, I can confirm that the reflexive mode of representation can most definitely be a demanding and challenging mode to execute for an artist. Furthermore, this way of creating images with dualistic meanings and purposes demand higher activity from the audiences. But I claim that it is a rewarding task for both parts. I claim that - by not solely relying on the mode of reflection in ways like these - it is almost as if an oxymoron appears: Minutio (= less focus on the acrobatic skills) can create amplificatio (= bigger appreciation of these skills). Being able to relate to a story, being emotionally involved within a story, can cause a postmodern spectator to increasingly savour these tricks since they become an

49 integrated part of the storytelling. Furthermore, acrobatic superiority can sometimes stand stronger and become more appreciated when having its opposite – inferiority – exposed at the same time; when establishing an oxymoron consisting of artists' weaknesses and strengths.

I find it relevant, in this matter, to implement the rhetorical stylistic feature, zeugma: A figure of speech with unexpected compilations of seemingly heterogeneous words or expressions. An example of this could be: ”He took his hat and his leave.” Sentences with abstract and concrete, solemn and everyday-like, meanings happening simultaneously. Zeugma could be seen as closely related to resemblance; characterized by the metaphor, the interaction between the literal and the figurative comes into play. It is a stylistic feature that at first appears incoherent. While this type of figure is grammatically correct, it creates its effect by seeming, at first hearing, to be incorrect by its exploiting multiple shades of meaning in a single word or phrase. In this way the recipient's attention can be activated in a surprising manner. An example of this is the production entitled 'Knitting Peace' by the Swedish company Cirkus Cirkör from 2013.103 Knitting/ knitted thread creates an ongoing theme throughout the entire piece where many creative images are created between this thread and the artists (already there, literal and metaphorical meanings are attached to thread). The title contains a zeugmatic play with words, a malapropism (usage of the incorrect word instead of the word with a similar sound): Instead of knitting a 'piece', a concrete verb is attached to an abstract substantive 'peace'. As a part of this story, an artist unties a threaded knot while performing a handstand act, which could be interpreted as a symbol of a human being solving a problem in a pressured or demanding state. An unexpected compilation of an everyday-like action combined with rare artistry. As another part of the story, several artists are knitting a larger piece/ peace together while being up in the air. Through these executions, I interpret the zeugma to meet the mode of reflection, having two points of departure: One that seeks to convey the advanced abilities of the artist(s) and one that seeks to convey a relatable story through creative narrative techniques. The zeugma is a stylistic feature which I argue to occur frequently in CWCP. I will mention another handstand act, this time from the piece 'De Nos Jours'/ 'Notes on the Circus', performed at Theatre Monfort in Paris in 2013.104 A male artist comes onstage, pours water in an electric kettle and then gets up on his hands. Neither the kettle nor the handstanding artist moves to begin with, everything is still onstage. As the water temperature rises, a sound appears from the kettle, along with movements from the handstanding body. The artist's legs slowly become soft and bendy, in opposition to the upper body that remains strong and still.

103 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUq2t65jlr8. 104 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK9vyfHXNro.

50 After the water starts to boil, the artist gets down from the handstand and walks 'normally' on his feet away from the centre stage. Thus, the artist makes a resemblance of the action taking place in the kettle. The handstand act is wrapped in a scenary and a storyline where the acrobatic action does not appear to become the primary event itself, although a primary function of the act is still to show the unique abilities. The handstand therefore somehow becomes a 'P.S.' and a headline at the same time. Recognition of the represented image enables an understanding of the action: We know what happens with the water in the electric kettle (imitation). But we cannot see the water in the kettle since the kettle is not transcendental. Therefore the artist's movements could be said to visualize the sounds and the invisible process taking place in the kettle (resemblance). The attention is drawn to the action that happens when the water becomes heated through his movements. However, it would appear obvious to expect a movement climax as the water boils; either collapsing from the handstand or shivering the body tremendously. But instead somewhat of an anti-climax happens: The artist creates no further bodily commentary on the boiling process, rather, he gets down on his feet in an uneventful manner and walks away. This appears slightly disturbing and surprising. Behind the artist is a blackboard with a question written upon: ”Qu'est ce que va faire?”/ ”What is there to do?” The question mark (and the artist) leaves it open for interpretation. No answers are given, instead the bodies – with all their multisensory channels – give subjective and fragmented suggestions. There might have been only a few audience members besides me that could identify themselves with the physical execution of the handstand act, but a boiling electric kettle and the question ”Qu'est ce que va faire?” are relatable features to anyone. Both recognition and confusion can appear through zeugma when identifying traits of a concrete occurence combined with something more abstract. Zeugma could stand as a stylistic feature to be experimented with in CWCP - not only in specific acts, but also in the entire theme of a piece. In the case of 'De Nos Jours': The structuring parts appear seemingly incoherent, without linearity and causality, until we at some point understand the bigger picture. Although this piece has a theme under which all acts are carried out, it simultaneously has a fragmented disposition. In alignment with postmodern scholarly thinking, this could be called a synchronic concept analysis through an anthology: One act is performed and told (through ie. juggling, rope-walking etc.) and the minute it stops, it is not commented upon, nor is it followed by a fluent transition. A new act immediately begins. The English title 'Notes of the Circus' indicates the choice of this stylistic disposition; notes are short and fragmented writings. However, as diverse as they all may be, they are still roofed under this one concept of

51 being notes. Notes that I interpret to raise phenomenological questions through the performers' performances, such as: How do we perceive the world and our lived experiences through movements? Their bodily responses to this question is something which I translate as: Through fragments of multiple answers, not coherency. Fragments of joy, fear, laughter, anger, determination, hesitation, prosperity, inadequacy etc. Which ultimately leads me to the following oxymoron: A coherent theme under which eclectic stories can be told and felt. Through these kinds of both distorted and shaped performance styles, I state that the rhetorical terms obscuritas and perspicuritas come into play: Perspicuritas means the rhetorical deed of providing thought transparency - a clear communication of rhetor's thoughts and intentions - leaving no space for ambiguities. Its antonym, obscuritas, will cover thoughts up deliberately and as a side effect avoid a linear narrative. It can be quite a paradox how the use of obscuritas in the beginning of a piece creates a bigger appreciation of perspuicitas, when discovering the latter during/ at the end of the piece. When fragmented pieces come together as a whole. In my view this is an example of a composition that can only obtain its 'essential' meanings and depths when related to semantic codes and ways in which the choreography refers to the doxa surrounding it. The one-man piece 'Marathon' from 2016 by Sébastian Wojdan of Galapiat Cirque105 could be said to stand as an example of a performance containing many parts of obscuritas throughout the piece. A man walks onstage, he takes a seat next to a random audience member, and sits there for quite a while. Staring at us. Just like we stare at him. Common ground becomes established. But established very slowly. Like in the 'real' world, these things take time and cannot be fast forwarded. So he keeps sitting there. Exposing the mode of imitation. And taking use of the stylistic feature kairos: The ability to adjust rhetorical content in the here and now, depending on reactions of the spectators. If one spectator laughs, he laughs with him/ her. If there is silence, he is silent with us. Now it feels too long. After all, we are attending a performance piece that we bought tickets for, we are not hanging out in a waiting room together. Finally, he starts walking around in a slow pace, and one after another, he brings all these everyday-like props onstage. He is creating a mess. Both onstage and in our heads: We have no idea what he intends to do with these things. He now stands still at the centre of the stage, weighing himself. He writes down his weight. During the next hour we are witnessing a man running, yelling, sweating, freezing, crying, laughing, falling, jumping. Taking off his sweatshirt and putting it back on multiple times. These are all fragments of various modes of representation attached to the mode of reflection (through various types of skills, such as knife

105 Https://vimeo.com/122510668.

52 throwing, rope-walking, floor acrobatics, juggling of clubs, balancing acts etc.). Using the reflexive mode of representation to shift between images of 'realities' and absurdities. Since some acts do not comment upon other acts, obscuritas is frequently present. This evoked contrasting feelings in me: Being both curious, captivated, irritated, enticed, and impatient. However, constantly activated. Shifting between understanding/ relating to/ appeciating what I was looking at and then absolutely not. Further in the piece, an act suddenly connects two dots: He hangs a rope horisontally above some knives that he had been placing in a line on the ground prior to this act; knives that are carefully placed with the cutting edges facing the ceiling. He gets up on the rope and balances. Since his body weight causes the rope to move closer to the ground, he thereby moves closer to the cutting edges of the knives as well. Slowly, but surely, perspicuitas occurs: He is imposing challenges and danger upon himself as human beings intentionally/ unintentionally do throughout life. In all different kinds of ways; sometimes completely out of nowhere, sometimes as causal consequences of actions in the past, sometimes in coherency with obvious obstacles that lay in front of him/ us. He is running a 'marathon' of life. With all the ups and downs that it brings. With all the unpredictable predictabilities that it contains. I came to realize that I was witnessing a sort of cataphora: Not mentioning a person/ an object until later in the discourse (ie. ”if you want some, here’s some cake”). A stylistic feature of obscuritas that activates the recipients before revelation. At the end, Sébastian Wojdan weighs himself again, close to no grams are lost. His effort – the 'marathon' – was worth close to nothing: No significant results from all the self torture, all the hassling, all the emotional roller coasters. I felt mesmerized by his final act before weighing himself: He unfolds a net around the stage (and takes his time to do it) and places himself in a chair behind the net. The spectators are now separated from him. We are now supposed to objectify and observe him in contrast to the very intimate interaction sequences prior to this act. He starts juggling with clubs; some of them he loses, some of them he masters to juggle in superior ways through world class techniques, others he throws away in anger. The net suits a practical purpose of security - not to hit an audience member with a club – but it can also be interpreted to stand as a metaphorical representation of 'life': As he throws or loses clubs into the net, they boomerang back to him, hitting him or causing him trouble/ obstacles. These are obstacles that 1) he imposes upon himself since he is the one who threw them, and 2) he is confronted with by his surroundings since the wall makes them boomerang back. Mirror neurons are activated in my spectating body: Ducking my head just like he does when trying to avoid getting hit by a club in the face. In the end, I almost felt as if I had run a 'marathon' too.

53 About the elements of danger: 'Marathon' and EWCP have features in common such as the oxymoron of artists genuinely risking their lives, but at the same time staging and choreographing 'fake' elements of danger (otherwise they would not survive night after night). However, it is my claim that the ornatus attached to Sébastian Wojdan's dangerous actions differ from EWCP: I argue that he primarily takes use of the mode of imitation instead of replication. When preparing for a dangerous trick, he is not shaking his legs in hyperbolic ways, nor is he pretending to depend on help from his surroundings. Instead his body is stiff and his mind completely focused, and he does not try to avoid nor shorten this moment (hence my opinion of what constitues 'true' authenticity in this matter). Furthermore, when losing his balance on the rope or missing the target of a knife throw, I interpret his actions to be 'real'; he is not pretending to fall nor miss the target (if I am mistaken, I think he has a very convincing body language). As a sidenote, balancing acts have become increasingly popular to use in CWCP as metaphorical representations of balancing life. An example is the one-woman piece 'The Balance' by Danish circus artist Signe Løve Andersen of Cikaros.106 She exposes an oxymoron of human fragility and superiority when attempting to balance herself through the entire piece using various props. About the piece, it is stated that gravity is not only defied, but also obeyed: ”Her ophæves tyngdekraften ikke, og ikke alt ser legende let ud. For at indvi publikum i jagten på det magiske balancepunkt arbejder artisten sig igennem både den virtuose triumf og det totale kollaps. Gennem koncentration, fordybelse og ro, men også frustrationer, stædighed og fiasko. Vi zoomer ind på artistens konstante kamp for balance i en ærlig, upoleret og rørende hyldest til balancesansen.”107 Coming back to Sébastian Wojdan: As much as he dares to embark upon dangerous tricks and balancing acts, he equally dares to confront his audience constantly: Staring audience members directly into the eyes up close, leaning against them, sitting next to them etc. It seems as if Sébastian Wojdan is not afraid to 'bore' us with the mode of imitation. Besides his failed actions, there are longer sequences of repeated 'normal' body movement patterns throughout the piece (such as sitting down when feeling lonely, lying down when feeling sad or inadequate, walking slowly when thinking, zoning out when losing concentration, falling when tired as well as running, jumping, and screaming when being frustrated or excited). He appears to be representing an oxymoron: A 'normal' human being who has rare circus skills. To repeat movements that have low bodily LIX numbers (in opposition to high LIX numbers when doing the advanced acrobatics) can be a risky stylistic

106 Https://vimeo.com/213745788?ref=fb-share&1. 107 Http://www.metropolis.dk/move-it/.

54 feature since redundacy and monotony can occur as a consequence. However, in a postmodern search for intense manifestations of the 'human scale', a positive result of these stylistic repetitions can occur: Identification. A result where a spectator deeply relates to the images created since the performed actions do not appear 'overplayed'. As clearly indicated through my choice of words in this analysis, I was touched and impressed by this piece. I identified myself with the performer on both a literal and a metaphorical level, while simultaneously being stunned by the high level of acrobatics. My only critique would be that the modes of imitation were occasionally too long and too 'passive'; this can be a consequence of 'bringing a human scale to performance'. Although I argue that CWCP appear to have shown more consideration towards the audiences and the 'outside world' in terms of narrativity and identification, I will argue the opposite as well: That many CWCP appear to not be choreographed entirely to suit the audience, but also have a point of departure coming from within. From the artist's/ choreographer's/ director's instinctive feelings and thoughts; as if the piece, the theme, and the choreographies are results of the addresser's stream of consciousness. Thus the relationship between sender and receiver becomes both active and reactive, as opposed to one-way communication. Coming back to Aristotle's term, praxis - the motivation/ intention behind the course of movements and actions – it could be stated that praxis in many CWCP derives from an internal integrity that causes a spectator to feel identification with an artist. The spectator feels it because the artist feels it. Identification then becomes the rewarding side effect. Pioneering forces of CWCP from the 1970s felt an urge to strip their performances of commercialization and superficiality, linking images onstage closer to images offstage, by seeking inwards instead of outwards. With a labelling premise of 'authenticity'. To cite Martine Maleval about CWCP: ”There is no concentrated pursuit of unconditional audience support.”108 Had the premise been the other way around, I do not believe that CWCP would have become as popular and succesful as they have. Ever since CWCP originated, various French companies have become known as postmodern stylistic firstmovers. Their avantgarde approaches have repeatedly left audiences either stunned, delighted, shocked, or not quite aware of what they have witnessed until the elements used became more integrated parts of 'mainstream' styles. Cirque Archaos is no exception. They are known for creating narratives with critical social commenting upon either the past, the present, or the future, and could definitely be said to not seek 'unconditional audience support'. Peta Tait and Katie Lavers write that the founder of Cirque Archaos (1986),

108 Maleval, 2016, p. 61.

55 Pierrot Bidon, took use of an 'industrial aesthetic' in the 1990s, replacing horses with motorbikes and agricultural machinery in order to convey updated representations of the world since ”machines were the twentieth-century equivalent of the horse.”109 The piece, 'La légende des clones' (1999), could stand as a postmodern example of political content: Exposing human beings as prisoners of nomothetic routines, submitting to ”elements that are not naturally but culturally imposed by the development of society” (p. 57). The acrobatic skills would function as implemented parts of the storytelling; rebellious bodies that ”pushed themselves to the limits in the circus skills, thus underlining an exuberant salvation” (p. 57). In other words, the tricks were parts of an emancipation - a way of freeing themselves from feeling ordinary - through unique physical abilities. A form of catharsis (metaphor originally used by Aristotle): A cleansing or purification of emotions through art - such as pity, fear, and anger – resulting in restoration. According to Martine Maleval, the contrasting exposition of rough world images onstage caused dramatic reactions: ”The shocks came from the juxtaposition of antagonistic elements: a chainsaw massacre could follow an aerial corde act where the physical body asserted its weighty presence; a romantic hand-to-hand duet was able to evolve under the benign gaze of a cripple in a wheelchair” (p. 57). An image of a disabled person staring at two people unfolding a love story through exceptional body movements – only noticing each other since they are fulfilled by each other's company and flying high together - is probably one of the clearest examples of my argument: Using circus bodies to expose highs and lows, both emotionally and physically, onstage simultaneously. The stylistic choice of the disabled person observing something so far away from his lived experience on all levels - being physically bound to gravity, incapable of making his body fly, not experiencing the joy of being in love himself - can be seen as a postmodern reaction towards EWCP' exposition of 'freakery': The semantics tied to this image could be interpreted as a way of creating empathy for/ identification with the disabled person through the comparison. By placing a love duet next to him, reflexivity could be claimed to appear, since the disabled person is not there to attract pointed figures from recipients due to the way he looks; rather, he is exposed as a human being with 'normal' feelings that are sympathetic and relatable: A feeling of inferiority through a comparison with other human beings that appear happy and content. However, one could also argue that the choice of exposing a disabled in this way is unnecessary: A person looking sadly towards two people being in love would not need to sit in a wheelchair in the conveyance of this message. He/ she could instead be lying or sitting down on the floor - moving under the influence of gravitation instead of disability - as a

109 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 5.

56 symbol of feeling down. In this case of interpretation, the disabled person could stand as a hyperbolic representation similar to the 'freak'. With the risk of entering into navelgazing solipsism, I will implement my own recent contribution to CWCP as a director and choreographer: The piece 'Fysisk Ustabil', consisting of three female acrobats (including myself).110 The theme of the piece is founded on my contemplating and passionate wish to use advanced acrobatic movements to share as 'honest', intimate, and 'authentic' images as possible of a woman's stressful life in a current doxa. Conveying feelings of inadequacy, stress, or insecurity within when trying to appear superior, calm, or confident on the outside; whether these emotions concern motherhood, career, self- esteem, relationships, mindfulness etc. Therefore, the piece is built on an oxymoron: Concrete storytellings from the 'real' world through abstract movements from a rare world. I consider acrobatics to be one of the most powerful and intense ways of drawing such emotions: The higher one attempts to fly, the bigger the crash can get if/ when falling. A premise of mine was to base each woman's story/ solo act on 'real' thoughts and experiences of the performing artist. Acrobatic dancer, Anna Kinoshita, tells the story of a woman struggling with the oxymoron of fitting in and standing out in society. Avoiding the spotlight and at the same time wishing to enter it. Both her costume and the background curtain consist of black and white stripes. When she stands in front of the curtain, her body almost 'disappears'. This causes her to desperately try to release herself from the curtain or to take off the costume, through contemporary dance and acrobatic tricks. However, her body simultaneously resists when attempting to emancipate from the stripes since she also identifies herself with them and feels safe in their company. Pole artist, Camilla Marienhof, tells the story of a woman who spends a great deal of time reading mindfulness books, but somehow does not manage to truly feel the calm and balanced emotions that she is reading about. She therefore struggles with the oxymoron of appearing mindful on the outside and being frustrated within. Her costume is vertically split into two halfs, and the pole stands as an axe in between these two halfs: On the one side of the pole, she exposes confident, advanced, poetic, yoga-related, and powerful skills on the pole (showing only the one side of the costume), and vice versa; on the other side, she falls, hesitates, shakes, and cries. My own solo piece tells the story of a woman (me) who cannot become pregnant and goes through fertility treatments. I come onstage inside a small pink house, appearing happy and content with my established life; with my career, my husband, and our nest. Until I realize that the next choreographed step – becoming a mother – is not as easy to execute as planned. My costume has elastic cotton around my stomach.

110 Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpzbDIyO7fU.

57 Whenever I try to create a pregnant stomach by pushing the cotton outwards, it falls back into place. The acrobatic movements are used to create the oxymoron of pretending to be on a high and then completely crashing within. Ie. through a handstand: Holding the handstand as long as I can, not going down before I simply cannot stand anymore. This is not pretending: Extra music is added to this part to make sure I have enough time to fall out of exhaustion. However, the loud crash on the floor is not 'real'; this is staged as a dramatic mode of replication. These three solo acts are intended to convey relatable feelings through unrelatable skills in an aim of telling creative, pathos-filled stories that I consider to be important. In 'Fysisk Ustabil', thoughts/ spoken words are implemented through the use of voice- over. This can be seen in relation to an upcoming tendency in CWCP. As mentioned earlier, the piece 'De Nos Jours' takes use of verbality: On cardboards, blackboards, and through voice- over. As much as the body can be a powerful, multisensory way of evoking strong emotions, it does have limitations. Especially when entering the reflexive mode of representation: Attempting to construct more concrete images of identification – to move closer towards modes of imitation - meanwhile demonstrating skills with very little reference to recognizable images can be a complex task. In order to create perspicuitas along the way – allowing the audience members to more fully understand and engage in an artist's story – verbal explications can be a helpful part of the storytelling. However, although verbality and the mode of imitation can be useful in the pursuit of bringing a more intense 'human scale' to performances, I must also state that a heavy use of this mode - and thereby a neglection of other modes - can potentially disrupt or destroy the beauty of circus artistry. That forcing very concrete images onto abstract movements can take away much of the focus from the execution of skills or poison the magical mystery of other modes. The modes of resemblance and replication can stand as valuable and important modes by creating a gap of not presenting conformity between represented entity and performed body movement. They can stand as modes that move bodies closer to 'circus' as an art form due to the polysemantics attached to them which activate and stimulate the spectators. By not identifying the events exactly, perspicuitas is not forced upon the recipients. Question marks are raised, and they will have to figure out possible answers themselves. To use Helen Stoddart's words: ”Art must necessarily, by virtue of being representational, offer the spectator a space between something assumed to be 'reality' or 'actuality' on the one hand and the artistic rendering of some aspect of that world within representation. It is this once-removal from the

58 world that facilitates the activity of reflection, interpretation and critique so that art offers us not simply a piece of life but also a way of thinking about it.”111 I will also emphasize my opinion that the mode of reflection should most definitely not become neglected in the process of fusing modes. A syntax consisting of advanced acrobatic skills should maintain a high priority of CWCP. I have concluded that representations of EWCP primarily created gaps by taking heavy use of the mode of reflection to first and foremost stun the audience as well as the mode of replication to primarily distance the performing human beings from 'normalcy' through hyperboles. Contrary to this, I consider CWCP' heavy focus on modes linked to 'reality' – on modes of 'normalcy', identification, and narrativity to enter a risk of lacking acrobatic quality. I claim that the challenge of creative ornatus entails the acrobatic execution as well, and that the mode of reflection enables impressive images of alienation that disrupt coherency and enhance imagination. I argue that one mode becomes increasingly appreciated when having its opposite mode represented. About halfway through the creative process of 'LOVE', I experienced one time where founder Guy Laliberté came to see a run-through of our work-in-progress, and he was not pleased with the level of acrobatic quality. I interpreted his comments as critical indications of the director's heavy focus on the storytelling of The Beatles, causing a lack of focus on the physical executions of artistry. Lastly, I find it important to stress and credit the great amount of thought and creativity that I consider many CWCP to put into stylistic executions. Distributing technical talents and skills could be argued to be more of a 'copy paste situation' for the choreographers and directors: The most creative part of this process is to find and locate the artist(s) somewhere in the world, recruit him/ her/ them and incorporate the skills in the show. The choices being made concerning the exhibitions, dispositions, intentions, and wrappings of these talented skills are a whole other story. I conclude that CWCP primarily take use of the reflexive mode of representation, and that this combination of various and opposing modes have proven to be useful and succesful since they stimulate and activate spectators of a postmodern doxa in equally various and opposing ways. In the following chapter, I will focus on positive connotations and interpellations attached to the word 'circus' which I argue to have appeared through CWCP. I will be analyzing these within the context of the undoubtedly most known company worldwide: Cirque du Soleil. Along with all the paradoxes that this company has brought to the word and to CWCP.

111 Stoddart, Helen: ”Aesthetics” in Rings of Desire: Circus History and Representation, 2000, p. 82.

59 4.4.1. Constructing Identities of CWCP: 'Join the Circus!'

The very establishment of CWCP could be said to be an oxymoron: Something new based on something old. New semantics tied to old syntax. A phenomenon that is socially constructed and that has essences from the past. To create new meanings through old material demands pioneering forces. In rhetorical terms, these forces could be labelled as creators of a neologism: A relatively recent or isolated word/ term/ phrase (in this case, what I call 'CWCP') that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not yet been fully accepted into mainstream language. The word may also refer to when an existing word/ term ('circus') is used with a new meaning ('CWCP') that has not yet had a certain expansion in a society, as opposed to the cliché or to old conceptions of the word ('EWCP'). In other words, taking material that exists within doxa and move this outside of doxa. Neologisms are often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event. Within the fields of contemporary dance, choreographers such as Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Pina Bausch could stand as neologisms. Janet Adshead articulates the challenges that these courageous creators of new dancing styles can face when producing neologisms: ”The spectator is presented with new forms of dance, whether performed for social or artistic purposes, since they tend to run counter to existing types of dance. They may fall outside accepted or given frameworks and may be less immediately accessible.”112

Within the fields of circus, French companies such as Cirque Archaos, Cirque Plume, and Cirque Baroque could stand as neologisms, ie. through their creative ways of using the reflexive mode of representation, as mentioned earlier. Their ways of attaching new modes of representation to the mode of reflection. Martine Maleval states that Cirque Archaos developed ”its singularity in two ways: through a link with the past because it broke with the established and figurative canon, not to destroy it, but in order to create its own work; and through a link with the present, through contemporary productions, because it started with an original and inimitable vision.”113 Neologisms are both active voices and reactive responses to their surroundings. They are breaking with established tendencies of both the past and present doxa while simultaneously being founded on them. In the case of Cirque Archaos, Pierrot Bidon addressed that his and Philip Astley's productions were ”rigorously identical. The difference resides only in the environment of our age” (p. 55). Similarly, the founder of Cirque du Soleil - a significant man in the histories of CWCP - Guy Laliberté, has stated: ”To keep a show

112 Adshead, Janet: ”An Introduction to Dance Analysis” in The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, 1998, p. 166. 113 Maleval, 2016, p. 57.

60 running, you always have to look for its relevance in a new society.”114 In other words, contextual validities are of great importance to these pioneers' work. Thus, a cumulative development from EWCP to CWCP becomes apparent.

What also becomes apparent through these quotes are traits of Lloyd Bitzer's theory, rhetorical actions to be seen as responses to changing circumstances. In this matter, the term decorum can become relevant: An appropriate rhetorical response to a postmodern doxa. However, this is the more passive take on courses of action. Roughly speaking, in accordance with a compromise between essentialism and social constructivism, Richard Vatz' opposing arguments are of equally great importance: Neologisms imply that human beings actively affect circumstances through their rhetorical actions. That they are not merely inevitable and 'natural' responses of decorum within a context of historical developments, they are just as well caused and created by avantgarde forces daring to produce work that is 'less immediately accessible'. Guy Laliberté and Cirque du Soleil could most certainly be said to stand as an important neologism of CWCP. As one of the most crucial key players in 1) changing and expanding new stylistic executions of circus performances, and 2) inventing new synonyms and interpellations attached to the word 'circus'. Regarding the 'less immediately accessible' angles of becoming a neologism, I consider selected parts of Guy Laliberté's background histories to be of relevance which is why I will shortly explicate them.

Instead of competing against what was already established in North America, Guy Laliberté sought his own ways. He began his career as a 'saltimbanco' in the 1970s:115 The accordionist, stilt-walker, and fire-eater came from a growing socialist street performance scene in Québec and evolved Cirque du Soleil from a group of twenty Québecois performers in 1984. His entrance to 'circus' could therefore be claimed to be founded on the syntaxes of EWCP. Productions such as 'Saltimbanco' (1992) and 'Varekai' (2002) stand as representational tributes to this entrance: The first for obvious reasons, and the latter means ”'wherever' in the Romany language of the gypsies the universal wanderers. This production pays tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition.”116 Although founded on EWCP, Guy Laliberté did not wish to compete with an already shrinking industry of EWCP, catering to children and families. He wished to create new semantics tied to this syntax.

114 Babinski, Tony: Cirque du Soleil: 20 Years Under the Sun – An Authorized History, 2004, p. 129. 115 Among European pioneering 'saltimbancos', I wish to credit ie. Christian Taguet, Paul Rouleau, Pierre Pillot, and Baron Aligre. 116 Https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/press/kits/shows/varekai/acts.aspx.

61 Guy Laliberté considered himself to be a 'true' Québecois with a grounded vision: ”Québecois people are close to the earth. That made us inventive and turned us into storytellers.”117 Although being aware that I cite a book that is written for promotional purposes, I still choose to do so since the quotes are within the context of an artistic creator's subjective point of departure, not historical 'facts'. In thise case, an articulation of a personal integrity and an instinctive wish to move closer towards a common ground through narrativity; what he calls an ”instinctual understanding of what audiences will respond to” (p. 41). In accordance with my previous conclusions about tendencies of CWCP, Guy Laliberté had the following ambitions for moving the performances 'closer to earth': Removal of the ring, ringmaster, and animals, implementation of a larger theme to carry the show (with artists, props, costumes, light, and live music all being important elements), technical matters during a show were to be thoroughly planned so that it would not disrupt the momentum of the storyline, artists should be gathered from all over the world in order to advance the acrobatic skills and expose aesthetic diversity etc. These tools all being part of an aim - and also the title of one of the first Cirque du Soleil productions - 'We Reinvent the Circus' (1987). Being ambitious and rare thoughts at the time, it would demand quite a journey to realize them.

As part of a publicity stunt to convince the government of Québec to fund the newly established Cirque du Soleil, his colleague Gilles Ste-Croix walked 90 km. on stilts. The mission worked, and the first show, 'Les Échassiers', was created in 1980. The show turned out to be a financial failure, and economic difficulties continued throughout the next years. In 1987, Guy Laliberté and his colleagues were invited to perform at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. Despite having only enough money to make a one-way trip, they took the gamble and went. As it turned out, the return tickets could be bought as well: The show attracted broad attention and success, ie. of entertainment executives who wanted to invest in Guy Laliberté's company. However, he was determined to not give away any company rights to outsiders. Thus, Cirque du Soleil remained independent and privately owned. Today, Cirque du Soleil stands as one of the world's largest cultural exports, with a total of over 30 productions that have been seen by more than 180 million spectators in at least 400 cities of 60 countries. The shows employ approximately 4000 people (1300 artists), cover more than 100 types of occupations, and gather people from over 50 countries that speak 25 different languages. They generate an estimated annual revenue exceeding 810 million dollars (it took Cirque du Soleil

117 Babinski, 2004, p. 13.

62 less than twenty years to attain the level of revenues that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey did in more than one hundred years).118

It is my claim that Cirque du Soleil has been a core part of creating new and positive interpellations attached to 'circus'. Interpellations that have resonated strongly and universally due to the broad expansion of their shows worldwide and due to the attraction of new spectator segments that may not have had an original interest in circus performances (furthermore, these are willing to pay high ticket prices). To some Western laymen, Cirque du Soleil can be their only, but well known, reference to CWCP; the company becomes a key connotation. Cirque du Soleil has been referred to in several popular American TV shows and movies, usually as an intertextual label of unique/ impressive physical skills (flexibility, strength etc.) exposed within a certain scene (ie. in an episode of the TV show 'Sex and the City' where the character, Samantha Jones, says ”that is so Cirque du Soleil!” in excitement over a sex swing).119 Similarly, ”join the circus!” has become a well known universal expression in everyday speech. An expression that has been heavily branded by Cirque du Soleil, and that could be said to be recognized worldwide as an indication of either pursuing your dreams, doing something out of the ordinary, coming together (to do artistry), or addressing to someone that he/ she feels the same. The latter two I interpret to emphasize a reaching hand of common ground. In the literal matter of 'joining the circus', it could stand as an open invitation to all kinds of people to become a part of a community. To 'join' is to move close to a group of people, and this use of imperative has agency involved: Addressing the human capacity to act.

An addition to this sentence has also been frequently used by Cirque du Soleil: ”Run away and join the circus!”120 This time 'circus' becomes a part of an escape to an exciting new world; daring to leave your everyday life, pushing yourself to embark upon new adventures. In this way, an identity/ a persona construction of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat is created: An adventurous person who is not afraid to enter the unknown. I identify with this kind of interpellation since this is exactly what happened to me when I crossed the Atlantic Ocean by myself to join Cirque du Soleil. I claim that these terms attach positive synonyms to 'circus' and have become part of everyday speech in the Western world greatly because of Cirque du Soleil's success and expansion worldwide (however, these can be highly subjective claims due

118 Https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/home/about-us/at-a-glance.aspx, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWu9VmZ3SIo & http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf. 119 'Sex and the City', season 3, episode 11. 120 Http://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/08-05-11-15-10-a-one-woman-adventure-she-always-said-shed- run-away-and-join-the-circus/ & https://www.thestar.com/life/2011/08/26/how_to_run_away_and_join_the_circus_in_10_easy_steps.html.

63 to my lived experiences). Furthermore, I argue that such sentences stand stronger when the actual founder of the company himself took risks of 'running away' to Los Angeles to expand 'the circus' in his passionate aims of establishing Cirque du Soleil.

'Cirque' could also be argued to have become a universally used word of positive connotations in the English language. Being French, it refers to the influences of French and Québecois CWCP; especially Cirque du Soleil within a North American context. Louis Leroux articulates how ”the very term 'cirque' has come to differentiate the high value artistic brand from the traditional family-oriented circus. 'Cirque' has become a buzzword to the point where American circus companies have sought to distinguish themselves from traditional circus – and perhaps share some of Cirque du Soleil's lexical magic – by integrating the French term into their names.”121 In other words, a high status has been created around 'cirque' causing others to take use of it in their pursuit of success. The 'Regroupement national arts du cirque' announced in 2007 that ”in 2008, Cirque du Soleil will be included in the proper nouns section of the dictionary Le Petit Larousse illustré.”122 As a sidenote, an interesting coincidence/ link can be found concerning Maurice Charland's research of interpellation: He investigated how inhabitants of Québec have been increasingly self-identifying themselves as 'Québecois'; the impact of the rhetorical identity/ persona construction attached to this word as part of their fight for independence from Canada. The establishment of 'cirque' as a word used in English language could be seen as a causal effect of ie. Québecois CWCP' efforts to maintain 'French'. Drawing upon my own experiences during the creation process that took place in Montreal, I had several acrobatic teachers and choreographers that spoke poor English and insisted on teaching our classes in partly French. It appeared obvious to me that the 'Québecois identity' was important for both the company and the people working within the company.

In accordance with my argument aboves, I claim that Cirque du Soleil has played a highly active role in increasing the status of being an 'acrobat'. The associations attached to this word, within the context of Cirque du Soleil, are mostly related to respect, admiration, and fascination; standing in opposition to the associations attached to 'gøgler' as mentioned earlier. Almost no matter where I go, I am met with awe when I tell people that I have been an acrobat in Cirque du Soleil. The company made me proud to say this word out loud when asked what I do for a living. Due to this, I also argue that the level of the reflective mode of presentation has advanced/ will continue to advance meticulously; artists all over the world train harder, more

121 Leroux, Louis: ”Contemporary Circus Research in Québec: Building and Negotiating an Emerging Interdisciplinary Field” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 560. 122 Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf.

64 disciplined and ambitiously, to advance their abilities and become a part of such a company. Which thereby brings even more exceptional artistry onstage.

However, there are many complex problems surrounding this company in relation to the stylistic traits and tendencies that I have concluded CWCP to contain. The huge growth in Cirque du Soleil's economy (which could also be formulated as 'the results of business related priorities by the founder') has lead to growth in commercialization and consumption which has thereby lead to a problematic paradox in terms of my syntheses: On the positive side, it has enabled the appeal to a broader audience, revitalized a suffering circus phenomenon, gathered diverse artists from all over the world, enhanced the possibilities of exposing even more advanced acrobatics as well as exposing stylistic designs that can promote CWCP in a benefitial way. On the negative side, it has created somewhat of a one-sided (and at times hyperbolic mis-)conception of what CWCP can be, meanwhile commercializing and distorting other images and souls of CWCP. How is it possible to maintain stylistically 'saltimbancoed' and 'close to the earth' when money, power, and prosperity become such significant factors of a company? Cirque du Soleil could be criticized for not succeeding with doing so; moving further away from a 'human scale' and closer to hyberbolic representational styles of EWCP. With merchandise stores at the entrance and the exit. Turning shows into lucrative businesses under false promotions of links to 'reality'. The fact that Guy Laliberté sold 90% of his stakes to investment groups in 2015123 – and thereby currently owns only 10% of his company – is a clear indication of a decreasing interest in stylistic integrity and an increasing interest in business profits (as opposed to his earlier determination when denying partners to invest in his company in 1987). Within a context of business strategies, Cirque du Soleil's economical success is exemplified as an ideal 'Blue Ocean Strategy' neologism;124 creating new and uncontested market spaces instead of competing in existing ones.

These matters have caused various European companies to become offended since they consider themselves developers of contemporary styles that are not related to Cirque du Soleil. As Lisa Burns states, it has been the wish by many creators of CWCP to ”rid society of the consumption aspect of circus,”125 and these can therefore be left with a feeling that the company has done more damage than good. When I finished my contract with Cirque du Soleil in 2008, I was hired to travel through Europe to promote the company since tickets were not selling as well there. An indication of stylistic choices and business minded matters not being

123 Https://www.forbes.com/profile/guy-laliberte/. 124 Http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/concepts/bos-oves/cirque-du-soleil/. 125 Burns, 2003, p. 29.

65 as popular in Europe. The state of Québec has also gone through an ambivalent relationship to Cirque du Soleil. This is the reason why a paper about empirical research on CWCP in Québec and Canada, conducted in the years from 2003 to 2005, was entitled: ”Circus Arts in Québec and in Canada: Shedding Light on a Paradox”. Some Québecoise have been provoked by the fact that Cirque du Soleil has received so much attention while smaller, minimalist CWCP ha ve been slightly overseen: ”Ironically, the circus community is suffering from its apparent 'good health' owing to the presence and influence of Cirque du Soleil. Because of its size and huge influence, Cirque du Soleil is distorting the facts, through no fault of its own. This distortion gives rise to and feeds several misconceptions about the circus arts sector.”126

Helen Stoddart creates a link between the company and Barnum & Bailey's EWCP when articulating the following: ”Both Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey's The Greatest Show on Earth have regular Las Vegas venues and the combination of earnestness and mimicry, which for many cultural critics are the primary characteristics of kitsch (rather than camp), suggests that, rather than the circus conforming to the conventions of Vegas spectacle, it is the Vegas spectacle which is a descendant of the circus spectacular.” 127 All of a sudden not only syntax but also semantics of Cirque du Soleil become attached to a company of EWCP; stylistic choices that, according to some critics, seem to have a profit making or commercialized Las Vegas concept as a point of departure. Prioritizing spectacular, virtuoso effects at the expense of the 'human scale'.

In my introduction of this Master thesis I wrote about my first, captivating encounter with CWCP through Cirque du Soleil: 'Quidam' (1996). 20 years later, this show is still running worldwide (although now converted into an arena format). The entire theme of the show is based upon a girl, Zoé, who imagines a more exciting world than the one she lives in. It was almost as if I felt like I was Zoé when I saw the show for the first time: An entrance to an undiscovered world that appeared more exciting than the one I was living in. Only, I was fortunate enough to turn this imagined world into my lived world as 'I ran away and joined the circus'. However, Zoé has grown up to become a woman and so have I. I now watch 'Quidam' with new eyes, and I must conclude that – with everything that has happened and developed within CWCP – the show now feels stuck in the past (the show being a synechdoche for the company). In a doxa of 2017, I must agree with reviewer of The Guardian, Lyn Gardner, when she states that the way in which the artists are ”framed for international consumption feels

126 Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf. 127 Stoddart, 2016, p. 32.

66 cynically exploitative.”128 The 'human scale' simply appears missing or undeveloped. Modes of reflection and replication become highly prioritized at the expense of modes of resemblance and imitation. I find it interesting in this matter, that Cirque du Soleil this year released a campaign that had the intention of exposing a more 'human' side of the artists: How they live an everyday life in Las Vegas, ie. ”hanging out at a local coffee shop, watering the lawn, and picking up dry cleaning - but in the extravagant theatrical costume and meticulous show-ready makeup of their stage persona.”129 With my words, this means that the mode of imitation is added to the campaign in an attempt to seek back to the 'human scale'. Creating minutio on the modes of reflection and replication - reducing the artists' superior and hyperbolic persona constructions (since these are images that they are struggling with) - with the intention of creating amplificatio on their 'normal' everyday lives. The choices behind modes of representation in the show 'Zumanity' can also be seen as an attempt to improve this struggle: Revealing and embracing 'human' dark desires, perversions, and preferences.

However, it cannot be denied that research has shown that Cirque du Soleil's success has had very positive effects on both CWCP and societal matters. Ie. in Québec and Canada, where the company has contributed to ”unique opportunities for meetings between artists and the public”130 and the fact that 'circus' has been recognized as a legitimate art form since 2001 (with steady provincial funding through a program exclusively devoted to circus arts). Adding to these facts, Louis Leroux (giving a first-hand account of the creation of the Montreal Working Group on Circus Research131) states that ”Québec schools now regularly offer circus activities as part of their physical education curriculum or as part of extra-curricular activities.”132 Other examples from 2007 are, 1) while the total number of performances for all performing arts dropped by 5.4% in Québec, the number of CWCP and magic shows increased significantly by 64.9%, 2) the occupancy rate in CWCP and magic shows was 82.7%, which is significantly greater than for all performing arts (71.6%), and 3) on average, the audience seats are more occupied at CWCP than at any other type of show.133 Louis Leroux also articulates that ”the impact of Québec circus on the Montreal economy is well over one billion dollars in direct revenue”134 out of which Cirque du Soleil's annual gross revenues roughly one billion

128 Https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jan/08/cirque-du-soleil-royal-albert-hall-review. 129 Https://lbbonline.com/news/cirque-du-soleil-artists-are-just-like-the-rest-of-us-in-new-campaign/. 130 Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf. 131 ”The Working Group began in 2010 as an informal gathering of academics interested in the aesthetics, economics, and ethics of Cirque du Soleil as both a force in renewing circus arts in Québec and as a major cultural force promoting Québecois creativity and commercial innovation” (Leroux, 2016, p. 564). 132 Leroux, 2016, p. 561. 133 Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.pdf. 134 Leroux, 2016, p. 560.

67 dollars. The company has also played an economically supporting role of other companies, ie. a 50% stake investment in Cirque Eloize as well as a 10-12 million dollars investment in the company 7 Doigts de la Main (p. 561).

However, there has been a recent decline in the company's financial growth, resulting in ie. 400 employees getting fired.135 Tomi Purovaara addresses a worry, surrounding the growing success of CWCP: ”The rapid growth in the number of artists, companies and performances is leading to a saturated market.”136 The integration of an increasing amount of artists dreaming of 'joining the circus' ”into the professional field while financial resources stay the same or diminish is problematic” (p. 555). A problem that could certainly involve Cirque du Soleil. Traits of a 'saturated market' have already shown.

In the rest of the world, I argue that tremendous effects have been seen as well, in different ways. Louis Leroux mentions how Cirque du Soleil has become an integrated part of American pop culture, ie. performing twice at the Oscars and at Super Bowl, ”and filtered through musical stars such as Madonna and Pink as they integrate circus in their acts.” 137 In the case of my lived experiences: The fact that Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison were willing to hand the rights of the Beatles music for the first time ever in a theatre production to the creative forces of Cirque du Soleil, I consider a legendary achievement. I was witnessing Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono holding hands onstage at the premiere of our show on the 30th of June 2006, to the song ”All You Need is Love”; ostensibly for the first time following disagreements over music legal rights throughout many years. Apparently people can come together onstage when they 'join the circus'.

Thus, I conclude the development of Cirque du Soleil's productions to stand as a paradox concerning stylistic executions of CWCP. However, despite several objections, I conclude that the initial starting point - Guy Laliberté's stubborn achievements of establishing the company as a neologism - and the years to follow, have caused groundbreaking results in terms of developing and contributing to the popularity and expansion of CWCP. Of implementing innovative and revitalizing performance styles in terms of advancing the acrobatic skills while adding creative, storytelling elements to these skills. Of exposing diversity and oxymorons onstage. I conclude that the company has played an important part in raising a broader awareness of the circus phenomenon to laymen; creating positive

135 Http://www.dailypressdot.com/cirque-du-soleil-a-victim-of-the-economic-crisis/757906/. 136 Purovaara, Tomi: ”Contemporary Nordic Circus: Introduction to the Art Form in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, 2016, p. 555. 137 Leroux, 2016, p. 561.

68 interpellations surrounding the terms 'circus', 'acrobat', and the act of 'joining the circus'. Lastly, from a subjective point of view: Had it not been for this company, I would have never become an acrobat and an artistic creator of CWCP as a main profession, and I would have never written this Master thesis.

4.4.2. Potential Objections & Gaps I will briefly mention a few examples of scholars' interesting research angles that can expose potentially relevant objections and gaps concerning my conclusions about CWCP and my Master thesis in general. As stated earlier, I regard it as an important notion that some scholars and circus enthusiasts do not necessarily approve of a/ my positive attitude towards the developments of CWCP. They do not necessarily agree on the level to which the mode of reflection should be combined this heavily with other modes of representation. Helen Stoddart mentions Antony Coxe as one of those scholars who requests the advanced acrobatic skills to remain pure and undistorted. Wrapping stories around these - intensifying representations of art - can disturb the focus on the physical qualities, and, in opposition to my conclusions, turn the skills into something further away from 'authenticity': ”When Coxe describes it as 'simply a craft' next to the 'art' of the theatre he bestows greater value on the 'craft' since for him this term connotes the associated virtues of authenticity, integrity, vitality and honesty as opposed to art's implied artifice and effeteness.”138 I will recognize the point that no matter how much potential 'authenticity' and 'honesty' that I claim selected CWCP to contain through stylistic modes closely linked to 'reality', it is close to an undeniable fact that a stylization of a performance is as staged and thought out as the abilities required for an act demands intense and precise rehearsing. These modes will therefore become 'fake' representations of 'reality'. Although it is my overall claim that styles of EWCP were dominated by 'otherness' through a heavy focus on both the mode of reflection and hyberbolic representations, I acknowledge that there are 'real' premises which EWCP and CWCP could have in common: Immediacy, ephemerality, and transparency when performing advanced skills. Unlike actors, magicians etc. no trick is pretended, imagined, nor covered up. Antony Coxe points out that an acrobatic trick can become a ”'spectacle of actuality'” (p. 16). He compares expositions of circus skills to an exposition of a sculpture: ”You can walk round it. It can be seen from all sides. There can be no illusion for there are eyes all round to prove that there is no deception.

138 Stoddart, 2016, p. 17.

69 The performers actually do exactly what they appear to do” (p. 15). It is no secret to any spectator that tricks require many years of training. To maintain a full focus on expertizing these onstage could be said to be an action of 'authenticity'. Paul Bouissac states the following in this matter: Acrobatic actions are not ”spontaneous responses” nor are they a ”part of open- ended processes, although the situations are real and the outcome is always uncertain to a degree. The situations which circus artists negotiate are constructed by the actors themselves.”139 It could therefore be stated – and objected against my conclusions - that the very execution of skills (the modes of reflection), both in EWCP and CWCP, are the most 'authentic' parts of an act and that the stylistic wrappings of these are not. Leaving an interesting question to discuss: What is 'real' and what is 'fake'? As another potential objection, I will mention Peta Tait and Katie Laver's point about the impossibility of separating and juxtaposing 'traditional circus' and 'contemporary circus', since 'circus' has been ever-evolving and therefore incapable of becoming systematized. Although these scholars and I agree that 1) it is impossible to make totalizing statements concerning stylistic developments, and 2) there has been a cumulative development within circus performances over time, we do not agree on whether this development simultaneously contains oppositions between EWCP and CWCP: ”The contemporary animal-free circus is itself nearly half a century old and coexistent with the traditional circus rather than replacing it as once proposed. The traditional circus and the contemporary circus forms might appear to be set up in opposition to each other, most notably around the absence of animal acts, but this juxtaposition actually reiterates the ways in which the traditional circus form was never static.”140 I have several objections myself to these comments. Firstly - and obviously – I will state that it is possible to identify traits and tendencies of EWCP and CWCP and to identify juxtapositions of stylistic choices between these. Secondly, I find it inadequate and over- simplified to state that the 'most notable' change from EWCP to CWCP was 'around the absence of animal acts'. However, there is a consensus of opinion concerning the impossibility of these traits and tendencies being 'static' or functioning as absolute answers. And I will acknowledge that their angle could be a valid objection to my divisions of EWCP and CWCP. In this case, my deductive results can stand as a negative consequence of my aim to compromise essentialism and social constructivism. In accordance with postmodern thinking, CWCP could be argued to be founded on the thoughts of ”new rules, the first of which paradoxically is that there are no rules” and that ”it is forbidden to forbid,”141 as Martine Maleval articulates. These quotes could be applied to

139 Bouissac, 2016, p. 37. 140 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 5. 141 Maleval, 2016, p. 61.

70 postmodern studies of the Humanities as well. However, Martine Maleval also states that the works by Cirque Plume, Cirque Archaos, and Cirque Baroque helped CWCP to become ”recognized and finally acknowledged as a respectable genre, notably because it became more clearly defined through the production of such works”. I strive towards applying such a quote to my Master thesis: An attempt to 'more clearly' articulate 'the production of such' stylistic traits and tendencies behind EWCP and CWCP in an aim of contributing to academic circus studies becoming more 'recognized and finally acknowledged as a respectable' field. From a generalized aspect, I will finally state an obvious, but very important notion of objection concerning my analyses: They are hermeneutical articulations of performances whose essential beauty, signature, and stimulation rely on the lived experience. With Lotte Hansen's words, a performing body is ”et samlingspunkt af betydninger, der ikke kan indfanges gennem delene. Bevægelserne er meningsfulde fænomener, og den fulde mening er kun tilgængelig ved direkte kontakt.”142 The sensing experiences through the here and now ”adskiller sig fra teoriens abstraktion, og vi kan ikke udtømmende analysere os frem til det kropslige udtryks umiddelbare og hele betydning, den mærker vi med kroppen” (p. 184). A spectator's body and mind perceive and feel 'real' people performing in 'real' life in ways that are not supposed to be put into exact words. This is one of the features that live performances are all about. However, if these lived experiences remain ephemeral and unwritten, no cumulative studies can be done on the subject. As a passionate scholar of performing bodies, I would consider this a big shame.

4.5. A Future Paradox A potentially interesting paradox could be found concerning speculations about future Western circus performances (FWCP). Based on my conclusions about EWCP, I predict that these will slowly decrease and potentially disappear when nostalgia is ready to let them go. That there are simply too many problems attached to their conceptualizations and too many stylistic features that are not in accordance with doxa. However, new oxymorons could hypothetically appear: 'Anonymous matrix bodies' of EWCP disappearing and robotic bodies of FWCP (re)appearing through a rapidly advancing technology. One machine becoming replaced with another. Peta Tait and Katie Lavers formulate questions that could arise from a future doxa of ”circus bodies that are more than biological entities”: ”Could these future spectacles of the re- imagined body be circus without the human? What would circus achieve if it were about the potentialities of the post-human body, transgenic, cloned or indeed robotic body?”143 Being the

142 Hansen, 1998, p. 184. 143 Tait & Lavers, 2016, p. 5.

71 author of a Master thesis that centres around the benefits of 'bringing a human scale to performance', I consider it possible that FWCP will increasingly highlight this scale due to a resistance towards robotism and technology. We see tendencies of such elsewhere in our societies: Paper books and calendars, typewriters, grammophones, and other antiques achieving higher sentimental value alongside yoga, meditation, and mindfulness becoming important parts of people's everyday lives. Seeking back to 'basics' and seeking deeper inside the seven layers of skin. Whatever happens, I am convinced that the following sentence by Peta Tait and Katie Lavers will remain true: ”The form may change but circus is here to stay” (p. 10).

72 5. CONCLUSIONS Based on my analyses, I conclude that primary traits and tendencies of EWCP' stylistic expositions are based on modes of reflection and hyperbolic modes of replication and that these create dichotomous gaps, rather than ties, between sender and receiver as well as between performed images and images linked to 'reality'. I conclude that these modes were crucial causes of EWCP' decrease in popularity in the later 20th century, and that the revitalization of 'circus' in the same period was due to the elimination of this gap through the arrival of CWCP. I conclude that primary traits and tendencies of CWCP' stylistic expositions are based on a diverse combination of all modes. That the implementation of modes of resemblance and imitation results in identification as a core stylistic feature. That this feature combined with alienation causes the reflexive mode of representation to become a crucial and benefitial mode. A tool that finds a way to marry the athleticism of a show with deeper meanings. A tool that enables circus performances to break the isolation, to create a meeting point between various elements and between communities. Through this meeting, the spectators go through emotions of both admiration and recognition. They experience a 'circus' that is grounded and flying high at the same time. A 'circus' that defies and obeys gravity simultaneously. A 'circus' that mixes various nuances of black and white, in both literal and metaphorical ways. An art form that has caused 'circus' to achieve a new level of social and artistic acceptability. I conclude that the combination of cumulativity and juxtapositions is useful 1) within the academic development of the Humanities - within dance, circus, and rhetorical studies, 2) within the development of circus styles, and 3) within the methods used to write this Master thesis. In this regard, I conclude that there are core traits of both cumulativity and juxtapositions surrounding the relationship between EWCP and CWCP. I conclude that the syntaxes of CWCP are founded on EWCP while simultaneously concluding that dichotomizations have taken place between EWCP and CWCP concerning the semantics tied to these syntaxes. I conclude that CWCP' stylistic choices of acts are coherent parts of building up a theme or a narrative, standing in opposition to EWCP. Furthermore, I consider CWCP' stylistic choices of combining identification and alienation to stand in opposition to EWCP. As stated in the introduction, I am aware that my views centre around subjectively selected parts of the discourses and that I have created my own coherence between these parts. My conclusions can therefore in no way function as totalized statements. Of course we cannot all agree on something as subjective as circus performance styles. And we are most certainly not supposed to.

73 6. ABST RACT This Master thesis is about Western circus performance styles. It is the aim to describe, compare, and contextualise traits and tendencies of early Western circus performances (EWCP) and contemporary Western circus performances (CWCP) through academic terms. The investigation is centred around the thesis that CWCP have revitalized a suffering and almost dying art form called 'circus' – causing it to reach a new level of social and artistic acceptability in a postmodern world – mainly through the introduction of a significant stylistic feature: Identification. The feeling of a spectator's close emotional association with the action taking place onstage. This feature stands in opposition to the acrobatic skills exposed, and through this implementation, the author therefore claims an exposition of contrasts to occur onstage: The foreign and mysterious combined with the familiar and 'real'. The exposition of superior and seemingly unobtainable physical abilites combined with the exposition of human fragility, flawedness, and inferiority. The spectators' passive observance in awe of an artist flying high and far away combined with spectators' active engagement with an artist staring them closely into the eyes on the ground. The imaginative combined with relatable everyday-like images. Establishing a common ground between artist and audience while at the same time distorting it. According to the author, the feature of identification has been absent in stylistic expositions of EWCP. This absence is argued to create dichotomous gaps, rather than ties, between sender and receiver as well as between performed images and images linked to 'reality'. The author suggests that these modes were crucial causes of EWCP' decrease in popularity due to the arrival of postmodernism, and that the increasing popularity of CWCP in the later 20th century was due to the elimination of these gaps. The research is done by interweaving 1) historical contextualizations and comparative studies between EWCP and CWCP, 2) discussions of selected circus scholars' literature about circus performances' stylistic developments, 3) the author's embodied experiences with circus performances (ie. as an acrobat in the company Cirque du Soleil), and 4) stylistic analyses of tropes and patterns in selected EWCP and CWCP. Conclusions are reached through the author's constructions of coherence between these aspects. Paula Saukko's eclectic research model has been applied in order to integrate various methodologies. The analyses are based on dance scholar Susan Foster's theory about modes of representations as well as selected rhetorical terms related to stylistics. It is a core aim of this Master thesis to provide studies of circus performances' stylistic executions with more clarifying and adequate terminologies.

74 7. REFERENCES 7.1. Literature

• Adshead, Janet; Briginshaw, Valerie A.; Hodgens, Pauline; Huxley, Michael: Dance Analysis: Theory and Practice, London: Dance Books, 1988. • Adshead, Janet: ”An Introduction to Dance Analysis” in Carter, Alexandra: The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, London: Routledge, 1998. • Albrecht, Ernest: Contemporary Circus: Art of the Spectacular, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2006. • Assael, Brenda: The Circus and Victorian Society, Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press, 2005.

• Babinski, Tony: Cirque du Soleil: 20 Years Under the Sun – An Authorized History, New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc. Publishers, 2004.

• Beadle, Ron; Könyöt, David: ”The Man in the Red Coat: Management in the Circus” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016.

• Bitzer, Lloyd: ”The Rhetorical Situation” in Philosophy & Rhetoric, Vol. 1, 1968.

• Bouissac, Paul: Circus and Culture, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.

• Bouissac, Paul: "The Circus’ New Golden Age" in Canadian Theatre Review Vol. 58, 1989.

• Bouissac, Paul: ”The staging of actions: heroes, antiheroes and animal actors” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Burns, Lisa: Through the 'Front Door' to the 'Backyard': Linguistic Variation of the American Circus, Illinois: Illinois State University, 2003. • Carmeli, Yoram: ”Played By Their Own Play: Fission and Fusion in British Circuses” in The Sociological Review, Vol. 35, 1987. • Carter, Alexandra: ”Destabilising the Discipline: Critical Debates About History and Their Impact on the Study of Dance” in Rethinking Dance History: A reader, London and New York: Routledge, 2004. • Charland, Maurice: ”Constitutive Rhetoric: The Case of the Peuple Quebecoise” in Quarterly Journal of Speech, Vol. 73, 1987.

75 • Croft-Cooke, Rupert; Cotes, Peter: Circus: A World History, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1976.

• Damkier, Camilla: ”The Circulation and Appropriation of Dance and Circus in Danish Performance Gymnastics”, proceedings from The Nofod Conference Dance – Movement – Mobility, 2010.

• Engel, Lis; Rønholt, Helle; Nielsen, Charlotte S.; Winther, Helle: Bevægelsens poetik – om den æstetiske dimension i bevægelse, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2006. • Foster, Susan: ”An Introduction to Moving Bodies” in Choreographing History, Indiana University Press, 1995. • Foster, Susan: Reading Dancing: Bodies and Subjects in Contemporary American Dance, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986. • Hammergren, Lena: Form och mening i dansen: En studie av stilbegreppet med en komparativ stilanalys av Mary Wigmans och Birgit Akessons solodanser, Stockholm: Stiftelsen for utgivning av teatervetenskapliga studier, 1991. • Hammergren, Lena: ”Many Sources, Many Voices” in Rethinking Dance History: A Reader, London and New York: Routledge, 2004. • Hanna, Judith: 'Dance?', in To Dance is Human: A Theory of Nonverbal Communication, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. • Hansen, Lotte: ”Legende kroppes bevægelseskunst” in Engel, Lis; Rønholt, Helle; Nielsen, Charlotte S.; Winther, Helle: Bevægelsens poetik – om den æstetiske dimension i bevægelse, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 1998. • Hartzman, Marc: American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers, New York: Penguin Group, 2006.

• Hotier, Hugues: Cirque, Communication, Culture, Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 1995. • Layson, June: ”Historical Perspectives in the Study of Dance” in Adshead-Lansdale, Janet; Layson, June: Dance History: An Introduction, London: Routledge, 1994. • Leroux, Louis: ”Contemporary Circus Research in Québec: Building and Negotiating an Emerging Interdisciplinary Field” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Little, Kenneth: ”Surveilling Cirque Archaos: Transgression and the Spaces of Power in Popular Entertainment” in Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 29, No. 1, 1995.

76 • Little, Kenneth: ”The Circus in Ruins: A Comment on 'Lion on Display: Culture, Nature, and Totality in Circus Performance' by Yoram Carmeli” in Poetics Today, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2006. • Maleval, Martine: ”An Epic of New Circus” (translated by Jane Mullett) in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • McFerrin, Ann: ”Circus Magic” in Time Out (December), 1981.

• Means, Michael: ”Imre Kiralfy meets Barnum & Bailey – and the Circus Spec is Never the Same Again” in Sugarman, Robert: The Many Worlds of Circus, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. • Munslow, Alan: Deconstructing History, London and New York: Routledge, 1997. • Onsberg, Merete: ”'Kan du se hvad jeg mener? - om kroppen i retorisk perspektiv” in Rubicon, Vol. 13, 2005. • Peacock, Louise: ”Clowns and Clown Play” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Phillips, Maggi: ”Diminutive Catastrophe: Clown's Play” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Purovaara, Tomi: ”Contemporary Nordic Circus: Introduction to the Art Form” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Purovaara, Tomi; Damkjær, Camilla; Degerbøl, Stine; Muukkonen, Kiki; Verwilt, Katrien; Waage, Sverre: An Introduction to Contemporary Circus, Stockholm: STUTS, 2012. • Saukko, Paula: Doing Research in Cultural Studies: An Introduction to Classical and New Methodological Approaches, London: Sage Publications, 2003. • Stoddart, Helen: ”Aesthetics” in Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016. • Stoddart, Helen: ”Aesthetics” in Rings of Desire: Circus History and Representation, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. • Sugarman, Robert: ”Introduction” in The Many Worlds of Circus, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.

• Tait, Peta; Lavers, Katie: ”Introduction: Circus Perspectives, Precedents and Presents” in The Routledge Circus Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 2016.

77 • Thomson, Rosemarie Garland: ”From Wonder to Error: A Genealogy of Freak Discourse in Modernity” in Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, New York and London: New York University Press, 1991. • Vatz, Richard: ”The Myth of the Rhetorical Situation” in Philosophy & Rhetoric, Vol. 6, 1973.

• Vedel, Jon: Gøgler af Guds nåde, Copenhagen: Borgens Forlag, 1992.

• Williams, Drid: Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

7.2. DVDs & Websites • Bliley, Robyn: Circus Rosaire, Gravitas, 2007.

• Distasio, Jim; McCutcheon, Mark: Sawdust – Life in the Ring, Forward March Media, 2009. • Erdman, Dennis: Sex and the City (season 3, episode 11), HBO, 2003. • Lambert, David: Hors les murs, Frakas Productions, 2012. • Http://enpiste.qc.ca/files/publications/state_of_affairs_shedding_light_on_a_paradox.p df.

• Http://www.shortstack.com/118-most-popular-instagram-hashtags-2016-for-business- and-life/.

• Https://www.thoughtco.com/goffmans-front-stage-and-back-stage-behavior-4087971. • Https://lbbonline.com/news/cirque-du-soleil-artists-are-just-like-the-rest-of-us-in-new- campaign/. • Http://clownopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Circus.

• Http://www.cultofweird.com/sideshow/freak-show-circus-sideshow-performers/. • Https://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jjb/ftp/memetics.pdf.

• Https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17991/carmeli-assael-circus-and- victorian-society.

• Http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palimpsest.

• Http://politiken.dk/kultur/scene/ECE2242630/danske-cirkus-er-paa-vej-mod-konkurs/. • Https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/saltimbanco.

78 • Http://www.dailypressdot.com/cirque-du-soleil-a-victim-of-the-economic- crisis/757906/. • Http://www.afukamoc.dk/eleverne/. • Https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2004/03/academic-turns-city-into-a-social- experiment/. • Https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/teltkollaps-anklager-kraever-faengsel-til-cirkus- boss. • Http://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2015-07-11-cirkus-optog-ude-af-kontrol-her-gaar- elefant-amok-paa-bil. • Https://ida.dk/sites/default/files/styles/twothird/public/284x206-arena2016.jpg? itok=xv7aV6oV. • Https://www.arena.dk/cirkusland. • Https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/press/kits/shows/varekai/acts.aspx. • Https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jan/08/cirque-du-soleil-royal-albert-hall- review. • Http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/nyregion/hovey-burgesss-high-wire-act-as- teacher-juggler-unicyclist.html. • Http://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/08-05-11-15-10-a-one-woman-adventure- she-always-said-shed-run-away-and-join-the-circus/. • Https://www.thestar.com/life/2011/08/26/how_to_run_away_and_join_the_circus_in_1 0_easy_steps.html. • Http://www.metropolis.dk/move-it/. • Https://vimeo.com/213745788?ref=fb-share&1.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWu9VmZ3SIo.

• Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm4t1vE96Qw.

• Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJCSfDtPaw.

• Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCp3_jaYOZ4.

• Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324VbAdtn4k. • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfE4WQRZhaE. • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKl9eHhUQa0. • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR8GEPWqNdo.

79 • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyPtyuRKLw. • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK9vyfHXNro. • Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUq2t65jlr8.